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THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 




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THE 



GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



BY 



CHARLES K. TUCKERMAN, 

Late Minister Resident of the United States at Athens. 







. ■ : . "7 



NEW YOKK: 
G. P. PUTNAM & SONS. 

LONDON : SAMPSON, LOW & CO. 

1872. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S72, by 

CHARLES K. TUCKERMAN, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 






<: 



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^<S 



J- /^ 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Arrival 1 1 

First Days 2i 

Modern Athens 35 

The Parthenon and other Ruins 63 

Political Characteristics 87 

The Great Idea 119 

Fifty Years of Independence 141 

Education 1 75 

The Greek Church 189 

American Missionaries at Athens 211^ 

Brigandage 23 1 

The Massacre near Marathon 255 

The Island of Corfu 295 

Character of the Greeks 329 



*^* The publishers express their acknowledg-ments to Messrs. Harper & 
Brothers, Scribner & Company, and J. B." Lippincott & Company, for per- 
mission to use such portions of these papers as have appeared in their maga 
zines. 



^' A NEW state of things has arisen from the shifting 
^^~^ of the balance of power, and it is not easy for the 
most experienced statesman to say at once what are 
the true relations of the Ottoman and Hellenic States, 
and their protectors or allies, the Austrian or Russian 
Powers, in the new conditions of Europe. Until, there- 
fore, the consequences of the late war unfold themselves, 
it would seem almost useless to speculate on the politics 
of those States, which must always be dependent on 
those of their mightier neighbors. But while waiting 
for the clearing up of political prospects, we may utilize 
the present period — possibly, a mere interval — of calm 
in Western Europe, to take note of the social condition, 
and the material progress of the countries, which may at 
any time become the theatre of great events. Of these^ 
Greece^ though the smallest^ is the most interesting ; more 
has been written about the little kingdom than about any 
other Eastern State ; and what has beeii ivritten^ has been 
always widely read,^^ 

London Times, May, 1872, 



A R RIVAL. 



THE GREEKS OF TO -DAY. 




ARRIVAL. 

HE traveller who approaches the coast of 
Greece with his imagination imbued with 
the prismatic hues of her ancient glory, 
will be disillusionized, as one by one the dreary and 
verdureless islands of the ^gean rise from the expanse 
around him, and the sterile coast stretches its monoton- 
ous lines, and patches of unvarying ochre. Yet as he 
passes Cerigo — " Cithera's Isle," — it is not without a 
pleasurable sensation that he remembers that there the 
most realistic of divinities was born j and Milos reminds 
him that she furnished the peerless statue which adorns 
the hall of the Louvre ; and ^gina tells him that he is 
gazing upon the famous '' eye sore " of ancient Athens ; 
and Salamis stirs him with the recollection of that 
naval achievement which crowned the fame of Themis- 
tocles, and saved the destinies of Greece. These sug- 
gestions, rather than evidences, of ancient mythology, 



[2 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

art and prowess, partially atone for the meagerness of 
the island scenery, and the mind prepares itself to re- 
ceive the reality of Modern Greece with that spirit of 
philosophy which ever comes to its aid when most it 
stands in need. 

Our route to Athens was by way of Brindisi, in 
southern Italy, to which port Admiral Farragut, then in 
command of the European Squadron, had dispatched 
one of his steamers to meet me. The trip to the Piraeus, 
the port of Athens, occupied fifty-two hoi^rs, during 
which the i^r<?//<rhad little opportunity to display her fes- 
tive qualities, for " Boreas vexed not the aerial space," 
and with the exception of the usual tumbling, off rude 
Cape Matapan, the sea was as calm as Diana's mirror. 
I will mention the single incident that broke in upon 
the tranquillity of our little man-of-war. It was a few min- 
utes after midnight, the steamer moving steadily onward 
at eight or nine knots the hour, when we were suddenly 
aroused from sleep by the ringing of the fire alarm bell. 
Hastily throwing on such articles of clothing as were near- 
est at hand, we rushed to the cabin door and beheld an 
exciting scene. The deck was already crowded with the 
crew, half dressed, bare-footed, and bare-headed. The 
officer in command was issuing rapid orders in a stento- 
rian voice ; a length of hose lay extended from midships 
to forecastle, and a volume of water deluged the deck. 
Men with hatchets, and men with ropes, were flying like 
mad from one part of the steamer to another, and the 
alarming order to " cut away " something or other, sound- 



ARRIVAL. 



13 



-ed like a death warrant. This scene of systematized 
confusion lasted some twenty minutes, and was finally 
brought to an end by the welcome order, " Back to quar- 
ters.'' This was followed by the speedy- restoration of 
the vessel to its former ship-shape condition ; and be- 
fore we turned in again, all was as quiet as if nothing 
unusual had occurred. During this scene, not even the 
ladies of our party manifested the slightest nervous anx- 
iety ; nor did any of us take the trouble to enquire as 
to the origin of the fire, or the extent of danger to 
which we had been exposed. The explanation of this 
apparent apathy lies in the fact, that on the evening 
previous, the commander had quietly remarked to each 
of us : " If you hear an unusual noise to-night, do not 
be alarmed, as I intend to call the men to quarters — for 
practice y 

We approached the peninsula of the Piraeus just 
in time to catch a telescopic view of the Parthenon, 
faintly crowning the heights above Athens, before the 
sun "sunk behind Morea's hills;" but we were not 
favored with one of Byron's sunsets. It was a burn- 
ing, rather than a " living," light, and the marvellous 
transitions from gold to saffron, saffron to red, deli- 
cately pink in the upper heavens, like the hue of young 
roses, and gradually deepening to ruby as it falls upon 
the surrounding hills, which have so often since delighted 
our vision, were superseded by a furnace glow of such 
intensity, that the vast amphitheatre of hills — Ph3dae, 
Pentelicus, and Hymettus, which encircles the plain of 



14 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



Attica, was a wall of fire. But w^e were not deprived 
of that last miraculous touch, which distinguishes the 
Grecian sunset from all others. Hymettus loomed up 
before the expiring rays a mass of glowing purple ; 
not that uncertain hue which is occasionally observable 
in the Highlands of the Hudson, but deepening from 
the exquisite tint of the violet, to the deepest imperial 
purple. Our greeting was certainly a grand one. Bet- 
ter than the salute of guns and ripple of flags, seemed 
to us that purple pomp at the portals of Greece, and 
thus the " Violet-wreathed City " of the Greek poet be- 
came to us a living reality. 

I was so absorbed in watching the heavens, that the 
dull clank of the anchor-chain, as the cumbrous mass 
descended to the bottom, suddenly recalled the fact that 
our voyage had reached its termination. But where was 
the Piraeus, the busy port of Athens — the shipping — the 
bevy of boats that so eagerly surrounds the newly-ar- 
rived steamer ? Not a sign of any thing of the kind ! 
Before us spread a little bay, land-locked by ridges of 
barren soil, but no evidence of man or of human habi- 
tation. We were too late to enter the port, and had 
come to anchor for the night at the mouth of the Mu- 
nichia, a little circular bay indenting the Eastern shore 
of the peninsula of the Piraeus, but unsafe as a port of 
entry, and entirely in disuse. The spot is interesting 
to the student of antiquity as having been a recepta- 
cle for ships of war in the time of Themistocles ; but 
as our present occupation was entirely disconnected 



ARRIVAL. 



^5 



with that epoch, I could not regard the position with 
archaeological cheerfulness. 

I shall never forget the solemnity of that night, while 
lying off the coast of Greece ; the grim shore, the si- 
lence of the sea, the intensity of the starlight, " far 
splendoring the sleepy realms of night." So transpa- 
rent at times is that wonderful atmosphere, that the vault 
of heaven seems lowered, or humanity lifted towards it, 
that the starry canopy may be the better comprehended 
and adored. As I walked the deck at midnight, the po- 
sition contrasted so violently with the experiences of 
our long journey as to become almost insupportable. 
The rush of life had suddenly culminated in a profound 
hush on the shadowy threshold of what had been to 
me a land of promise from the days w^hen I was drilled 
in Ancient History and thumbed the Greek grammar. 
It seemed as if the procession of thought had halted 
just at the point where it should have advanced, and 
that some impenetrable barrier were interposed between 
the familiar objects of the past, and the new scenes and 
circumstances upon which I had been called upon to 
enter. Daylight most effectually dissolved these doubt- 
ings, and amidst the welcome of new hands and faces, 
we were soon landed by the Consul's boat at the " King's 
Stairs," on the long stone quay of the Piraeus. There, 
carriages were in waiting to convey us to Athens, Com- 
mander H. and his officers, with our American friends, 
doing the " escort." 

The accounts of enthusiastic travellers in Greece, 



1 6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

from Professor Felton to Miss Bremer, and of disap- 
pointed or morose ones, from About to Thackeray, had 
pretty well prepared me for the actual condition of 
things, and I laid aside my glasses of couleur de rose, — 
not for the green or the blue — but for clear crystal. I 
must confess that these soon became very dusty on the 
road from Piraeus to Athens — a stretch of five miles 
over a well-constructed macadamized road which fol- 
lows the course of the ancient " long wall.'' With the 
exception of a meagre line of Italian poplars which 
expends its force in a clump at the half-way restaurant 
and wine shops, there is but little verdure. Neither do 
the fields attract by luxuriant vegetation. Much of the 
land on either side is waste and sterile, and it is a con- 
stant marvel to the American, who comes from " pastures 
green " and most abundant, how the thousands of sheep 
and goats, browsing on the melancholy plains and stony 
hills around Athens, find sustenance. Some grape vine- 
yards attracted the attention, but they looked dried up 
under the blazing sun of June, and the poor creatures 
at work in them excited, no doubt needlessly, our deep 
commiseration. The dust raised by our carriages and 
the vehicles which we passed on the road, was most 
aggravating to eyes and olfactories. A perpetual cloud 
of it, fine and penetrating, seems to be the necessary 
accompaniment of those who pass to and fro on this 
highway between the months of May and October, for 
during that period not a drop of rain falls on the parched 
plain of Attica. The consequence is, that the face of 



ARRIVAL. 



17 



the country has that wintry look which stereoscopic 
views of landscapes frequently present, so thick lies the 
white dust on trees, shrubbery and vineyards, and which 
is never washed off by artificial process, nor blown off by 
refreshing breezes. Now that the English railway is 
in successful operation, the bulk of travel between the 
city and Piraeus avails itself of the speedier and more 
comfortable mode of conveyance. The entrance to 
Athens from the Piraeus road is not imposing. The 
street is ill-paved, and the quarter of the town dirty 
and squalid. Avoiding the long " street of Hermes," 
with its throng of carts, donkeys laden with brush-wood 
and paniers of fruit ; crowds of red-capped Greeks in 
dirty fustanellos — blue bagged Cretan trowsers — shep- 
herds' shaggy capotes, and the less becoming but now 
prevailing Frank costume — avoiding these and the ac- 
companying din of many voices, we took the pleasant 
road which winds round the base of the Acropolis, and 
after a brisk drive alighted at one of the three excellent 
hotels on the " Square of the Constitution.'' 



FIRST DAYS AT ATHENS. 




FIRST DAYS AT ATHENS. 

HE Greeks take things quietly. Kings and 
princes arrive and depart, and beyond the 
usual modicum of street staring and side- 
walk criticism, excite no sensation. As to foreign Min- 
isters, the Capital is surfeited, and they come and go 
as noiselessly as the seasons. Etiquette in political 
and social circles at Athens is extremely rigid. The 
last arrival, be he who he may, is expected to make the 
first call. The departure from this rule is so rare that 
I could not but regard it as a very high compliment, 
when many of the leading men of Athens waived the 
custom, and anticipated the new Minister in the first 
ceremonial visit. This cordiality of reception was chiefly 
owing to the fact that until then the United States had 
not been represented by a resident Minister in Greece, 
and he was peculiarly welcome as coming from a Gov- 
ernment that has no sinister motives to conceal, nor sel- 
fish ends to gain, among a people whom we wish to see 
obtain the largest liberty consistent with the law of hu- 
man progress. 

Two demonstrations of a public character were made 
during the first days of my arrival, which were pecu- 



22 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

liarly interesting to me from their connection with the 
Cretan insurrection, at that time in its most critical 
phase. The first was a deputation of Cretans, accom- 
panied by the Bishop of Kissamos — a province of 
northern Candia — and tw^o priests. It was sad to look 
upon the anxious faces of these men as they gathered 
in and filled my parlor, trusting that the affecting ad- 
dress of their chief would elicit something from me, 
that might lead to the hope of eventual interference on 
the part of the United States Government, in behalf of 
their struggling country. .They were a fine-looking set 
of men, hardy, earnest-eyed and simple mannered. 
They thanked me with tears in their eyes for the chari- 
table aid so freely extended to the Cretan refugees in 
Greece — then about sixty thousand — by their sympa- 
thetic friends in America, and especially to the Cretan 
Committee of New York. Finally, the Bishop, with 
uplifted hands and eyes, and in words trembling with 
emotion, invoked a solemn blessing upon the Govern- 
ment and people of the United States. I doubt not 
that every word proceeded from his heart. 

One evening I was informed that a procession of 
Cretan children, refugees from their unhappy island, 
had called to pay their respects to the American Minis- 
ter. They numbered about nine hundred, and had been 
brought by their teachers. Missionaries of the American 
Board, and were ranged in line, up and down the street, 
before the legation. They were ajl of tender years, and 
were neatly dressed. A large crowd had collected at the 



FIRST DAYS AT ATHENS. 23 

unwonted spectacle, which was altogether quite touch- 
ing. There they were, the helpless children of poor and 
suffering mothers, who had been cast upon the shores 
of Greece to find that subsistence which was denied to 
them at home, where their fathers and elder brothers 
were sustaining all the hardships of a struggle which, 
in the face of tremendous odds, they still hoped might 
terminate in the independence of an island which is 
theirs by right of nationality, language, religion and 
numbers. To our countrymen at home they were in- 
debted for the very clothes on their backs, and for the 
food which from day to day kept the feeble life within 
them, while to the disinterested labors of our missiona- 
ries at Athens they owed a moral and intellectual salva- 
tion from something worse than death itself. After 
singing two or three hymns they saluted the Minister, 
with cheers, which forced him to address them with a 
few sympathetic and encouraging words, the vener- 
able Dr. King acting as interpreter. Among other 
things he tol(J them that, could their benefactors in 
America but witness the spectacle which they pre- 
sented, they would feel abundantly recompensed for 
such assistance as, amid great domestic suffering ex- 
isting at the time in the Southern American States, 
they had been able to bestow upon the refugees in 
Greece. 

Then, with more singing and more "zetos," the 
assembly quietly dispersed. 

In further proof that the Greeks are not ungrateful 



24 '^HE GREEKS OF TO-DAV. 

for the assistance extended to the Cretans by our coun- 
trymen, let me quote the address of Monseigneur The- 
ophile, the head of the Greek Synod, and highest eccle- 
siastical authority in Greece, who wearing, his robe and 
insignia of office, was among the first to call upon the 
newly arrived Minister : ^' I come," said the archbishop, 
" as a man who participated in our great struggle, 
which commenced in 182 1, and still continues, and as 
the head of the Greek clergy, to express to you, the 
representative of the great American nation, the grati- 
tude of my companions in arms, not only those belong- 
ing to the Orthodox clergy, but those of the entire Greek 
nation, for the many benefits of every kind, which, not 
only during the old war, but during the present strug- 
gle in Crete, your countrymen have conferred upon the 
Christians of the East, who are fighting for religion, coun- 
try and liberty. I pray your Excellency to transmit this 
expression of our deep thankfulness to your whole na- 
tion j and if it be possible, to every American citizen. 
Tell them that what they have done for Greece is written 
in indelible characters in the Hellenic heart, and will be 
transmitted from generation to generation. The clergy 
of Greece will ever pray for the peace and prosperity 
of the world, but above all for these two nations so 
closely bound together by the ties of friendship and of 
sympathy. Without the beneficence bf America the 
difficulties of our great struggle would have been much 
greater, and but for her generous aid many Cretan 
widows and orphans would have perished of hunger and 



FIRST DAYS AT ATHENS. 



25 



of cold. May God bless the American benefactors of 
the Christians in the East." 

Beside these formal utterances, notes poured in from 
individuals, many of whom I have never seen, full of sim- 
ilar expressions of gratitude for American liberality. 

Let me say a single word here on this Cretan ques- 
tion, with which, so far as charitable aid to the refugees 
is concerned, I have been more or less connected before 
and since my residence in Greece.. The insurrection, 
chiefly from the imperfect manner in which it was con- 
ducted, has long since terminated, but the popular prin- 
ciple which it illustrated is as vital to-day as then, and 
the moral effect of the charitable movements in America 
and other countries, is not only perceptible in the ame- 
h oration of the condition of the Greeks in Candia, but 
£fives promise of ultimate reforms which will unques- 
tionably lead to the realization of just hopes on the part 
of those restless and unfortunate people. 

My official presentation to the King of Greece took 
place at the palace at Athens, His Majesty coming to 
the Capitol for that purpose from his summer residence. 
King George is the second son of King Christian of 
Denmark, and is brother to Alexandra, Princess of Wales, 
and to Dagmar, the Crown Princess of Russia. He as- 
cended the Hellenic throne in 1863, and is now 27 years 
of age. His figure is slight and his complexion pale, 
with eyes and mouth expressive of kindliness and 
determination. His physiognomy indicates his char- 
acter, which is honest, frank, and unaffected ; a Sax- 
2 



26 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

on nature, in fact, which disarms suspicion, and in- 
vites confidence. Of his poUtical abihties as a Sov- 
ereign in the difficult position of ruhng an aHen people, 
I may venture to make some observations in a future 
chapter. 

As an amusing illustration of the official formalities 
which prevail at the Greek Court, I will give the course 
of procedure which led to the presentation of the wife 
of the American Minister to the Queen. A ceremonial 
visit is first made upon the Grande Maitresse of the 
Court, who within three days returns it. The doyenne oi 
the diplomatic corps, namely, the wife of the Foreign 
Minister W'ho has been longest accredited at the Court, 
is next called upon, and after this visit has been re- 
turned, a formal note is sent, requesting her to apply to 
the Grande Maitresse for the presentation to the Queen. 
Now it happened that at the period of our arrival at 
Athens, which was midsummer, the Court were sojourn- 
ing at Kephissia, a distance of twelve miles from the 
Capital. The doyenne^ also to escape the heat of Athens, 
was residing at the Piraeus, five miles in the opposite di- 
rection. It was therefore no joke to comply with the re- 
quirements of the occasion. But what are long drives 
over dusty roads in midsummer, or the sacrifice of many 
precious hours, compared with an infringement of those 
Royal observances, which for generations Europe has 
consecrated as the religion of dynasties ! " Those who go 
to Corinth," or to Courts, must proceed in the way that 
is set down for them. When, therefore, the wife of the 



FIRST DAYS AT ATHENS. 27 

Minister had performed her pilgrimages to Kephissia, 
and to the Piraeus, and the doyenne had performed hers 
to Athens and Kephissia, and the Grande Maitresse had 
performed hers from Kephissia to Athens — making in 
all an aggregate of ninety-two miles — the Queen's mes- 
senger appeared with a royally-stamped note, appoint- 
ing a day for the presentation, and an accompanying 
invitation to dinner. 

Let it not be supposed that this martyrdom of etiquette 
is ever endured more than once; that one turning 
of the golden key opens the lock forever. The sim- 
ple announcement that the Minister is in the ante- 
chamber of the Palace, is sufficient to admit him 
instantly, and at any hour, into the presence of the 
King. Indeed, personally there is nothing haughty or 
exigeant in the character of King George. Simple in 
tastes, and genial in his disposition, he keenly enjoys 
the elegance of his surroundings without being seduced 
by externals. Nothing could have been more frugal 
than the house of his father. Prince Christian of Schles- 
wig-Holstein, before he ascended the throne ; and from 
the simplicity and good sense of the Princesses Alexan- 
dra and Dagmar, may be inferred the character of thei ■ 
brother of Greece. 

We found the King and Queen seated in her boudoir, 
and passed an hour alone with them before the announce- 
ment of dinner. Queen Olga is the daughter of the 
Grand Duke Constantine of Russia, and is therefore 
the niece of the Emperor Alexander II. She is twen- 



28 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

ty-one years of age, but with the early development of 
the children of the North, is womanly rather than girl- 
ish ; well developed, with sunny hair, blue eyes, deli- 
cate nose and chin, full and glowing lips, and a skin 
marvellously white and transparent. She has her moth- 
er's, the Grand Duchess Alexandra's, graceful slope of 
shoulders and bust, than which there are few fairer. 
Her first child was not then born, but I have '^ assisted '^ 
since, at three christenings, when her children were held 
up like naked cupids, after the manner of the Greek 
Church, before being plunged into the royal font. The 
maternal duties of die young Queen have thus far had 
no perceptible effect upon her physical charms. In 
manner she unites the artlessness of a child with the 
charming aplomb that is bred in courts. She has an in- 
quiring mind and critical observation, which spices her 
sentences with the least suspicion of sarcasm. She is 
lovely to look upon, whether standing in royal robes, 
crowned with a tiara of diamonds, or sitting in sweet 
abandon in her nursery, surrounded by her children. 
From her amiability of disposition, and from her avoid- 
ance of all intermeddling with politics*, Queen Olga is 
universally beloved by her people. 

The court consists of about twenty individuals, 
selected chie/ly from the old Greek families of the revo- 
lution, rather than from the Fanariofes^ who, under the 
Turkish regime, constituted the Greek aristocracy at 
Constantinople, and are regarded with jealousy by those 
who claim to be of the "unadulterated stock." Thus, 



FIRST DAYS AT ATHENS. 29 

out of deference to public opinion, we find the names 
of Kolocrotoni, Mavromahalis, Metaxas, Vasos, and 
Botzaris, among the ladies and gentlemen in attend- 
ance upon their Majesties. * 

The members of the court are strongly attached to 
the King for his extreme personal kindness to them. 

As I shall not refer to the subject again, let me here 
say what a misapprehension in certain quarters impels 
me to say. Until one comprehends by personal obser- 
vation to what extent the heat of political acrimony will 
mislead, it is difficult to understand the motives of men 
who deliberately attack the personal character of their 
rulers. We have experience of this in our own coun- 
try, but it is rarely carried to the extent which is ob- 
servable in Europe, where, among the democratic classes, 
there are few sovereigns whose names have not been 
connected with all that is vile in human nature. Un- 
happily we are too well aware that the private lives of 
emperors and kings are not always exemplars of moral 
purity, but it is equally unjust to conclude that, because 
an individual possesses sovereign attributes, he will 
necessarily debase himself by profligacy and lust. The 
freedom of the press in Athens is as unfettered as our 
own, and far more frequently abused. Attacks upon 
the sovereign are rare, but are not always limited to his 

* The latter, one of the ladies of honor to the Queen, is the 
grand- daughter of the hero of Halleck's well-known poem. Our 
poet was ignorant of the proper pronunciation of the Suliote chief- 
tain's name, or he would not have spoiled his metre. The accent 
should be on the first syllable, ^d7/-zaris. 



30 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

supposed political offences, and although innuendoes re 
fleeting upon the King's morals are promptly repudiated 
by the respectable portion of the Athenian press, they are 
caught up and circulated abroad whenever any petty 
political purpose is to be promoted thereby. Thus it 
happens that these libels occasionally cross the water 
and appear in our own journals, separately, or mixed 
up with the pohtical slime which the detractors of Greece 
unceasingly fling at that defenceless kingdom. Of 
course our own journals are not responsible for these 
mendacities, and thus, in the shape of " foreign items," 
they pass current with millions of readers. 

Not long since a New York newspaper contained 
the following paragraph : " Cannot there be at least one 
respectable king ? Here is George of Greece, who is 
said to be a deep drinker and trifler ; who plays all the 
time with pet birds — the catching of which is sufficient 
for His Majesty — and so he lets the bandits prowl on, 
and plunder and murder." " Was it for this," asks the 
editor, and no wonder that he asks it, " that Greece was 
helped to independence by the powers of Europe ? " 
His Majesty, who is remarkable for his abstemiousness, 
and who does not " trifle " with a single " bird," human 
or ornithological, laughed heartily when he perused this 
paragraph. But when told that it was cut from a re- 
spectable American journal, he was almost incredulous. 
The domestic life of King George is without reproach, 
and his example, as a husband and father, in spite 
of the allurement of eyes and the flattery of tongues — 



FIRST DAYS AT ATHENS. 31 

from which no court is exempt — might well be fol- 
lowed by those who slander, and conceal their iden- 
tity in the obscurity of private life. An official, whose 
interviews with a sovereign are confined to public 
audiences, may be less able to form a correct opin- 
ion on this head than the valet who attends his mas- 
ter. But I now speak of him as an individual and not 
as a king ; and from an acquaintance which has brought 
me into intimacy with him in, I may say, all the rela- 
tions of life. In our estimate of rulers, at home and 
abroad, we are apt to forget the millions of eyes that are 
fixed upon them, eager to spy out some moral delin- 
quency which shall feed the appetite for scandal, and 
promote the objects of party warfare. Fortunate is the 
prince, who, standing in the midst of 

"That fierce light which beats upon a throne," 

can furnish so little opportunity for personal reproach 
as King George of Greece. 



MODERN ATHENS. 




ATHENS. 

HE city of Athens is like nothing but itself. 
Though frequently compared to Edinburgh, 
there is little resemblance between the two 
cities beyond the fact that each terminates in a precipitous 
rock, surrounded by bastioned walls. Old and new Edin- 
burgh are separated by a deep fissure, and the various 
epochs at which the buildings were constructed, and the 
different elevations of the streets, give to the Scottish 
city a picturesque effect that is wanting in Athens. 
The Greek Capital lies for the most part on a flat plain, 
and is wholly new, being the growth of the last forty 
years; and the houses, of yellow-washed stucco, give a 
fresh and light appearance to the town, which bears the 
traces of the Bavarian architects, who, under King Otho, 
constructed many of the public edifices. Excepting the 
broad and upper part, Athens is a compact mass of 
buildings, clinging to and spreading out, fan-like, from 
the Acropolis at its northern and eastern base. This 
singular rock rises abruptly from the plain to a height 
of about three hundred feet above the level of the city. 
It is bold and inaccessible excepting at its western end 
which slopes gradually to the site of the ancient Agora, 



36 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

— probably the heart of old Athens. The surface of the 
Acropolis is flat and oblong, measuring one thousand 
one hundred by four hundred and fifty feet ; and on it 
stands the Parthenon, the sublimest ruin of ancient 
Greece, with the remains of the Propylaea, the Erec- 
theum, and the Temple of Victory. The precipitous 
sides of the Acropolis are partially clothed with rank 
vegetation ; but the bare and unadorned rock is its 
chief peculiarity, which is only impaired by the masses 
of debris that from time to time have been thrown over 
the parapet, and which give to the " Rock of Pallas," 
on its southern side, very much the appearance of a 
modern stone quarry. Other natural elevations around 
Athens somewhat detract from the imposing effect 
which would be produced, if the Acropolis alone broke 
the monotone of the plain of Attica. As it is, the 
attention is divided between that and its neighbors — 
the closely connecting rock of the Areopagus, or 
" Mars Hill; " the massive range of the Pnyx ; the hill 
of the museum — crowned with an unsightly observa- 
tory—and the hill of Lycabettus, which pierces the air 
in a sharp cone at the northeast extremity of the 
city. 

But what makes Athens sui generis, is its relation to 
, the templed rock which overshadows it with a moral and 
physical grandeur that no other city on the surface of 
the globe can aspire to. From the streets below, the up- 
per portions of the ruined Parthenon can be seen pro- 
jecting above the bastioned walls of the Acropolis, as 



ATHENS. 



37 



if ever asserting its hereditary claims over the innova- 
tions of to-day; as if ever declaring in majestic mute- 
ness unto the restless city at its feet, — /, — /, am Athens. 
Nor can the modern life below it be disassociated from 
that stupendous throne of rock which upholds the mon- 
uments of a past age, whose glories all subsequent ages 
have but reflected or imperfectly copied. The silent 
city on the hill, which can never be hid, is linked to the 
bustling city at its feet, which is ever trying to be seen. 
It is a live man bound to a corpse ; but the man is mor- 
tal, and the corpse is immortal. 

With the exception of the olive groves, common- 
ly regarded as the scene of Plato's retirement, w^hich 
stretch along the plain a couple of miles from the city, 
and the few acres of trees in the " Queen's Garden," 
there is little foliage to refresh the eye in Athens or its 
vicinity. Even " Flowery Hymettus '' is bare of ver- 
duie ; and the wild thyme which still supplies immortal 
honey to the bees, gives but a cold, grayish glow to the 
surface once thick with olive trees. The goat, classic- 
ally the enemy to the vine, is in modern times the 
"scapegoat" for all the devastation on the hills ; but 
he is not the real offender. What the vine said to the 
goat in the fable : 

" If you eat me to the root, 
I shall still bear fruit," 

is no longer applicable, for the peasants dig up the roots 
of the olive trees, and cut down everything else in the 



^S THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

shape of fibrous substance to supply their own firesides > 
and the wood markets of Athens. 

The '^ Queen's Garden," named from the former 
Queen Ameha, to whose rural tastes Athens is indebted 
for this luxurious enclosure of foliage, flower-beds, arti- 
ficial waters and winding walks, is the city's leafy crown. 
It half encircles the palace, and extends along a boule- 
vard lined with pepper trees, and containing many hand- 
some private dwellings. The United States Legation, 
then sandwiched between those of Russia and France, 
overlooked the Queen's Garden : and however much — or 
little — the three colleagues might differ among themselves 
on questions of public policy, they were sure to agree in 
this : that in possessing a key to the private entrance 
of this garden, which admitted them at all hours, the 
sovereign had bestowed upon them a privilege which 
cannot be too highly prized, especially during the sultry 
days of midsummer. The southern boundary of the 
Queen's Garden abuts upon a large open piece of 
ground called the " Square of the Olympium,'' at the 
extremity of which rise the ruined columns of the tem- 
ple of the " Jupiter Olympius : " — the other end reaches 
to the King's Palace, a ponderous edifice of white mar- 
ble, which, but for the portico in front, might pass for a 
hospital or military barracks. The " Boulevard des 
Philhellenes," running in front of the palace and its gar- 
den, extends in a circular direction past the Square of 
the Olympium, the Acropolis and the Temple of The- 
seus, where, connecting with other broad thoroughfareSj 



ATHENS. 



39 



and the " Boulevard de I'Universite," it completes the 
circle of the entire city. The King's Palace is sepa- 
rated by a small enclosure of orange trees from the 
" Square of the Constitution," where the principal hotels 
are situated. This, and the " Place de la Concorde," in 
another quarter of the city, are daily thronged with af- 
ternoon promenaders, where, also, the military bands 
perform twice a week. From this Square extends the 
" Street of Hermes," more than a mile in length, lined 
with shops of every description, and leading out into the 
Piraeus road, ^olus street, a somewhat similar thorough- 
fare, crosses the former at right angles and extends into 
a fine carriage drive, as far as the village of Patissia. At 
the junction of the streets of Hermes and ^olus, are 
several cafes which, favoring the confluence of these 
two arteries of city life, form the rendezvous of a large 
class of coffee-house politicians, who, in that efferves- 
cent community, find abundant topics for incessant and 
exciting debate. The four right angles formed from 
this centre extend over a net-work of narrow and tortu- 
ous streets, between buildings possessing little claim to 
architectural beauty, and filled with a dense population. 
The shop windows betray the meretricious taste which 
prevails in Oriental and unthoroughly reclaimed com- 
munities. There is a superabundant supply of cheap 
jewelry and German " nick-nacks," which are so readily 
obtained from Vienna and Berlin. These make their 
appearance on the dresses of thousands of the middle 
and lower classes of females, who aspire to imitate Pa- 



40 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



risian fashions in their toilets and the decorations of 
their houses. The bookstores contain fewer volumes 
of standard literature than would be expected in a com- 
munity of scholars like that of Athens. The number of 
tobacco shops is not surprising, in view of the fact that 
every third man is whiffing a cigarette. Cigars, worthy 
of the name, are a rarity ; but the paper-covered substi- 
tute is the almost inevitable accompaniment of every 
man's walk, talk or avocation. Little books of cigar 
paper, the tobacco box, and brass receptacle for ashes, 
are seen on the table in every house. The Greek seems 
to think that the only good thing that can come out of 
the Ottoman Empire is Turkish tobacco ; and this he re- 
duces to ashes with intense relish. The native, and 
cheaper article, however, is what is mostly consumed in 
the country. In brilliant contrast to the generality of 
shops are a few, the show windows of which, be it the 
jeweller, tailor or silk mercer, almost rival those of the 
Palais Royal. 

With the exception of the Cathedral or Metropoli- 
tan Church, there is no edifice of religious worship 
which attracts attention from its external architecture 
or internal appointments, unless it be the three or four 
little Byzantine churches which, scattered about through 
the old city, deserve notice from their peculiar and an- 
cient construction. The Metropolitan Church is impos- 
ing from its size ; but the external coloring in stripes of 
yellow and red have a tawdry look to the foreign eye. 
If, from the thickly-settled and business quarters we 



ATHENS. 



41 



proceed to the newer parts of the city, things wear a 
more attractive look. The streets are wide, the side- 
walks cleanly, and but for certain nuisances which force 
the pedestrian to take to the street, would be worthy of 
any city. Balconies protrude from even the meanest 
edifice, and are regarded as a desideratum by all house- 
holds, for the accommodation of the ladies of the 
family, who sit thereon in passive enjoyment of the 
street view during the long summer afternoons and even- 
ings. The dwellings are built very much on the same 
model, and are mostly intended for two families ; having 
one entrance through a gate and court-yard to the first 
floor apartments, and another front door conducting to 
the suite of rooms above. The walls are constructed 
of large cobble stones, roughly cemented, and are sub- 
stantial enough for a fortress ; but the enemy they are 
intended to provide against is more subtle and powerful 
than the armaments of war. Earthquakes are not in- 
frequent in Greece, and have been attended with great 
loss of life and property. In Athens, however, they 
have never exceeded a slight tremblement^ sufficient to 
arouse the sleeper at night, but not endangering even a 
chimney-pot. 

The dwelling-houses are generally furnished with 
great simplicity, and there is an absence of that com- 
fortable home look which the abundance of drapery and 
furniture gives to an English parlor or French salon. 
Even in the best houses, carpets are sometimes deemed 
superfluous, or are visible only in the shape of rugs be- 



42 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

fore the sofas, or a square of tapestry in the middle of 
the floor. But the nakedness below is atoned for by 
the gorgeousness above. Every ceiling, from dining- 
room to bed-room, is decorated with colored designs, 
and the salon is sometimes so gay with arabesque, as to 
suggest the idea that the carpet has been spread by ac- 
cident on the ceiling instead of the floor. The sofa is 
the seat of honor, and on it the guest is invited to seat 
himself. Two rows of chairs are generally seen at right 
angles to the sofa, which, when duly occupied, give 
rather a formal appearance to a social gathering. Black 
coffee or sweetmeats are invariably offered to visitors in 
many of the Greek families, as in the days of the Turk- 
ish regime. 

Each dwelling-house in the better portions of the 
city has its garden in the rear. Thick and high walls 
may hide it from the passing gaze ; but there it is, a 
ceaseless pleasure to the occupants, and often an evi- 
dence of their cultivated tastes. In very many of the 
gardens, or in the court yards of private dwellings, the 
visitor notices small fragments of ancient sculpture set up 
against the wall, or inserted in it ; portions of vases, bas- 
relieves, a trunkless head, or a headless trunk, inscrip- 
tions, etc., which were discovered for the most part on 
the spot where they are now seen, having been turned 
up in the excavations during the progress of the build- 
ing. The removal of antiquities from the country is 
now forbidden by law ; but the discoverer is permitted 
to retain them as his personal property. During the 



ATHENS. 43 

litigation and delays which occurred while the plan for 
the new city was being matured, and which contemplated 
the entire abolishment of the narrow, crooked lanes which 
deformed the old Turkish town, the owners of many of 
the lots became impatient, and erected dwellings on the 
old sites. The result of this is, that the broad, regular 
thoroughfares were commenced after a large part of the 
present city was erected, and there is no doubt but that 
beneath the soil in the older parts of the city are con- 
cealed many precious archaeological remains, which 
would otherwise have been brought to light. 

Athens can boast of public edifices which rival many 
structures in the largest European Capitals. I can but 
glance at these. After the King's Palace and the Cathe- 
dral, the University attracts attention from its strictly 
classic fagade, the walls on each side of the centre being 
windowless, and the white columns being relieved by a 
deep red interior wall. The " Arsakion,'' a Young Ladies' 
Institute, is a commanding structure of white stucco, with 
marble portal separated from the boulevard by a hand- 
some iron railing. The Varvakion, a large grammar 
school, the Orphan Asylums for boys and girls, the Op- 
thalmic Institution, the Polytechnic School, the Military 
Hospital, and the Observatory are creditable buildings, 
worthy of the high uses for which they are employed. 
Those of the Department of Finance and of the Interior, 
which latter contains the Post Office, are massive, 
but without architectural elegance, as is also the Nation- 
al Bank of Greece, one of the most useful monetary 



/ 



44 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

establishments in Europe. Of public buildings in pro- 
cess of construction, are the Greek Academy, the char- 
acter of which will closely approach that of the Aca- 
demie Franfais, a superb structure of Pentelic marble, 
which will cost upwards of a million of dollars ; the 
Bouce^ov Chamber of Deputies ; the Polytechnic School, 
and an Archaeological Museum, for the preservation of 
Greek antiquities. All these institutions are objects 
of great pride with the Greeks; and many of them 
are founded and sustained by the munificence of pri- 
vate individuals, among whom Baron Sina, the 
wealthy Greek banker of Vienna, is prominent. The 
material progress of this, as well as other cities in Greece, 
though gradual, is marked. Forty years ago not a single 
structure now forming the City of Athens, existed. 

The vanity which induces the Greeks to name their 
children after Agamemnon, Alcibiades, Pericles, and 
other heroes of antiquity, suggests the street nomencla- 
ture. Thus we have all Athens marked and labelled 
with immortal names. The " Street of Hermes," and 
the " Street of ^olus," are the great business thorough- 
fares ; while smaller ones bear the less divine appellation 
of Praxitjles, Euripides, Thucydides, Thrasybulus, and 
Solon. The " Boulevard des Philhellenes " is a slight 
tribute to the friends of Greece ; and the " Square of 
the Constitution," and the " Place de la Concorde," bring 
us suddenly down from the mythological and historic 
periods to the most recent of modern Hellenic events. 

The national costume is rapidly disappearing from 



ATHENS. 



45 



the streets of Athens and other large towns of Greece, 
but prevails in the islands and the interior. The Athen- 
ian is not a whit behind other Europeans in adopting 
the outer signs of civilization ; but the cut of the coat 
and the traihng silk skirt that gathers up the dust in 
Hermes street, do not always catch the chic of the Boule- 
vard des Italiens ; and the abundant use of poudre de 
riz falsify many complexions that would otherwise be 
fair to look upon. 

It is rather refreshing than otherwise, to turn to the 
relief of color and picturesque effect produced by the 
long, gold-tasselled red fez which many of the Greek 
women who have adopted the Franc dress, still retain ; 
and to the Albanian jacket and snowy fustanella of the 
men, which glitter along the streets, and attract the 
eye wherever there is an assemblage of people. I say 
siiotvy fustanella, which, however, is not always regarded 
as an essential by the wearer. When these involuted 
folds are not immaculate, they are apt to display the 
opposite extreme of filthiness, indicating that the wear- 
er's acquaintance with soap and water has not even ap- 
proached to that of a personal introduction. It is at a 
distance, and in its general effect, that the so-called 
" Greek costume" is attractive. Closely examined, a 
man cannot look otherwise than effeminate, wdth a 
series of short, white petticoats wrapped around his 
loins, in spite of the leathern pouch, with protruding 
pistols, which surmount them. The blue, bagged trow- 
sers and crimson sash of the Cretan — almost as com- 



46 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

mon in the streets of Athens — is equally characteristic 
and far more becoming. The national costume of the 
peasant women is now rarely seen ; but the shaggy sheep- 
skin capote of the shepherd meets the eye at every turn, 
and is rather picturesque as he walks beside his little 
over-laden donkey, or drives before him a flock of goats, 
or a drove of strutting turkeys. The little patient 
donkey does most of the carrying trade. He is seen 
plodding along the thoroughfares with huge panniers of 
grapes, oranges, and vegetables, or buried beneath a 
mountain of brush-wood, which seems to move along by 
its own volition. Frequently the poor brute is made to 
carry his master, or perhaps two masters at a time, who 
accelerate his movements by pokes and beatings, or stop 
them by a peculiar rippling sound of the lips. But the 
transportation of bundles, packages, boxes, and articles 
of furniture, however large, is the exclusive monopoly 
of a class of humanity as patient and enduring as 
the four-legged animal, and not much more advanced 
than the latter in intellectual endowments. At the 
corners of the principal business streets may always 
be seen a group of Maltese porters, strong-bodied men, 
each with a length of cord hanging over his shoulder, and 
eyeing watchfully the movements of the passer-by. If a 
stranger is supposed to be shopping, the Maltese " holds 
him with his glittering eye," and lingering near the door 
of the shop he has entered, darts in when the customer 
has made his bargain to secure the job of carrying the 
article home. If the purchaser is furnishing a house, 



ATHENS. 



47 



the scene becomes amusing ; for unless the shop-keeper 
knows his customer's residence, and an agreement is 
made with him to send the articles home, the stranger, 
as he passes through the fashionable quarter of the 
town, may be surprised to find himself followed by a 
procession of Maltese porters, in single file, the first 
shouldering a bedstead, the second a wardrobe, the 
third a washstand, the fourth a centre-table, etc., while 
chairs, pots, and frying pans bring up the rear. 

Athens is a peculiarly quiet city, excepting in the 
vicinity of the market place where the cries of the 
street hucksters and the tumult of carts and canaille 
drown the air with discord. From the earliest hour of the 
morning, however, in all quarters of the town is heard 
the monotonous cry of the peddler in dry goods, as he 
trundles his little cart before him, dispensing his small 
stock to housemaid and cook ; and the newspaper boy 
with his incessant shout of " pente lepta — pente lepta'' 
is often the unconscious teacher of the first two words 
in modern Greek that the newly arrived stranger 
acquires. The habit with many Greeks — and which is 
much remarked upon by foreigners — of carrying a string 
of glass or wooden beads in the hand, which they 
manipulate while walking the streets, or when engaged 
in conversation, has no religious significance. It is 
simply a mechanical relief to the nervous system, as 
another man twirls his cane, or a lady flirts her fan. 
Thus a Greek who joins you in the street, may slip the 
string of beads from his wrist, and as he converses, 



48 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

pass, half unconsciously, bead after bead, between his 
fingers, as if he were muttering a pater noster. 

Courtesy is an inborn trait of the Hellenic character, 
and was remarked upon by travellers as a distinguishing 
feature in the social manners of the Greek populations 
during the days of Moslem supremacy. The hat is 
always raised, as in Paris, when meeting and parting in 
the street, and when going into and coming out of a shop. 
The salutation, when near friends are about to part for 
a lengthened absence, or meet after a long interval, is 
a kiss on either cheek. The foreigner is often amused 
at seeing two Greek gentlemen with hats off and 
hands clasped, kissing each other violently in the 
open street ; and if he resides in Athens long enough 
to form any intimate acquaintances, he may be still 
more surprised to find himself yielding to the same 
affectionate demonstration. My friend, the venerable 
Metropolitan bishop, first initiated me into this — with us, 
unusual proceeding — by drawing me towards him on the 
occasion of a public ceremonial, and bestowing a 
reverential kiss upon my cheek. Under the impulse of 
the moment I returned the compliment in like manner^ 
being ignorant, or wilfully blind to the fact that the 
hand which held mine, and which was conveniently 
lifted towards my lips, was inviting the mark of respect 
which I had presumptuously bestowed upon his Holiness' 
face. When Mr. Gladstone officially visited the 
Ionian islands some years ago, he saluted the hand 
of the local bishop, and bowed his head to receive his 



ATHENS. 49 

benediction. The bishop hesitated so long, not being 
sure what was expected from him, that the Enghsh 
Commissioner Ufted his head at the moment when the 
former had concluded to bless it. The result of this 
joint movement was, that the head of the Commissioner 
came in violent contact with the chin of the prelate, to 
the inconvenience of both, and to the amusement of 
the assembly.* 

Not one of the least interesting of street sights in 
Athens are the long files of children of both sexes from 
the public schools and Orphan Asylums, as they take 
their afternoon walk through the boulevards — the boys in 
^ray or blue uniforms, and the girls in homespun frocks 
and spotless white pinafores. They are the ever-mov- 
ing sign of the ever progressive educational life in 
Greece. 

One cannot walk out many days in Athens without 
witnessing a funeral procession. Long before it comes 
in sight, the ear catches the low monotonous chaunt of 
the priests, who are preceded by boys in white robes 
bearing the crucifix and ecclesiastical insignia, in 
presence of which every head is uncovered, and every 
hand makes the sign of the cross. The corpse is ex- 
posed to full view in an open coffin of light material, 
covered with white or black cloth, with silver or gilt 
decorations^ the cover of which, marked with a long 
diagonal cross, is carried before the procession. The 
body is dressed in the customary clothes of the de- 

* Kirkwall's Ionian Islands. 
3 



so 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



ceased, the head shghtly elevated; and the hands folded 
in front of a panel picture of the Virgin set up on the 
breast. If it be a female, the cheeks and lips are paint- 
ed vermilion, intended to reproduce a natural expres- 
sion, but which gives to the corpse an artificial and ghast- 
ly look. Even to one accustomed to witness the expo- 
sure of the dead in Oriental countries, there is some- 
thing painful in the idea of exhibiting to the giare of 
day, and amidst the whirl and insensibility of the public 
street, the features of a deceased person who m ute 
may have been known only to the little group of mourn- 
ers gathered about the remains. But there is some- 
thing to be said in favor of this mode of burial, over 
that of our own. I confess to a feeling of the most 
tender reverence, when a funeral procession passes in 
Greece^ which is not awakened by that of the stiff black 
hearse, the boxed up coffin, and the formal line of 
mourners, marching two by two in its wake, through the 
streets of western cities. At Greek funerals the hearse 
is not generally employed, and the light, open casket is 
borne by the hands of the nearest friends of the de- 
ceased, while the other mourners walk, not march, in 
a group around it. Thus they literally carry and accom- 
pany, rather than follow, their friend to the grave, and 
gaze upon the face which was dear to them, up to the 
moment when he is laid in his last resting place. The 
funerals of the poor are even more touching to behold. 
A single priest, perhaps, performs the chaunt, and half 
a dozen mourners, representing the little household, 



ATHENS. 



SI 



bear between them the coffin, which is composed of the 
cheapest material, and covered with white musUn. 
When a person of distinguished position dies, the fu- 
neral procession becomes an imposing spectacle, with 
the bishop and priests in their gorgeous sacerdotal robes, 
numerous lighted candles, and martial music. I once 
saw the body of a venerable bishop of the Greek 
Church carried in procession through the streets of 
Athens. He was seated in his bishop's chair, elevated 
above the people, and was clothed in his canonical 
robes, with mitre on head and the crosier uplifted in his 
hand. A cloth around the forehead bound it to the 
back of the chair, but not sufficiently close to prevent 
the head from bobbing up and down, as if the dead 
man's pale and rigid features were saluting, for the last 
time, the people among w^hom he had exercised his holy 
office for over three-score years. In this position he was 
placed in the grave, a peculiar honor accorded to his 
.ecclesiastical rank. The dead — chiefly from climatic 
considerations — are buried within twenty-four hours of 
their decease. This is very shocking to foreign ideas ; 
but the custom has come to be complied with, within a 
briefer nu?iiber of hours than the law's requirement. In- 
deed the feeling is, that the sooner the painful duty is 
over, and the house freed from the distressing spectacle 
of a corpse, the sooner will the minds of the mourners 
be relieved from association with what is repulsive, and 
return to the inward contemplation of their friend, as 
they knew him in their midst. Thus it often happens 



52 THE GREEKS CF TODAY. 

that the first intimation of a death is conveyed in the 
printed invitation to the funeral. I have conversed v/ith 
a gentleman at an evening party, who appeared to be in 
the highest enjoyment of physical healtli, and the day 
following witnessed his interment, he having expired in 
the meantime from apoplexy. I had once a business 
appointment with a near neighbor, and on going to ful- 
fil it, met his dead body coming down the door steps. 
I was sitting one evening at the bed-side of a dis- 
tinguished American Missionary, who was describ- 
ing to me his peculiar malady, and the next after- 
noon I saw him laid in the Protestant Cemetery. 
The modern Greek may well exclaim with the ancient 
Greek : ; 

" Who knows what fortunes on to-morrow wait, 
Since Charmis one day well to us appeared, 
And on the next was mournfully interred ! " 

The removal of the body from the house frequently 
excites the most painful scenes. The realization of the 
parting rushes upon the minds of the afifiiicted family 
before time has brought the feelings into subjection, 
and agonizing shrieks and wild gesticulations accompany 
the first movement of the funeral cortege. It is the cus- 
tom, after the decease of the occupant, to drape the 
interior of the house with mourning. I was once the 
guest of a country gentleman, w^hose wife had died nearly 
a year before my visit. The appearance that greeted 
me on entering the mansion, was not at all enlivening. 



ATHENS. 



S3 



Every article of furniture, from piano to footstool, was 
draped in black, and even the key of the tobacco box 
had a small streamer of crape attached to it. As to the 
huge four-post bedstead upon which I was invited to 
repose, it was like mounting a catafalque ; while to ex- 
pect " sweet dreams " under the folds and festoons of its 
funeral canopy, and massive silver cross and picture of 
the Virgin suspended over my head, was equivalent to 
depending upon the special intervention of the blessed 
Mary in my behalf. 

From this melancholy digression, let us return to the 
streets of Athens. It is in the afternoon that they v/ear 
the most attractive appearance. The squares are then 
thronged with promenaders listening to the music of the 
bands ; and the principal avenues display many excellent 
equipages, among which the blue and silver livery of 
the King is prominent. The Athenian horseman is a 
very dashing character. The quiet trot which satisfies 
our Central Park riders, would be quite intolerable to a 
cavalry officer who is enjoying himself on the public 
promenade. Even there he rejoices in the suggestive 
rattle of his sword, and, " dashing his rowels in his 
steed," endeavors to emulate that impossible equilib- 
rium of man and beast which only bronze equestrian 
statues have ever been able to attain ; or, he breaks into 
a headlong gallop, after the manner of the three horse- 
men who carried "the good news to Ghent," and which, 
if attempted in one of our thoroughfares, might subject 
him to a penalty which would seriously interfere with 
his pecuniary resources. 



54 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

It is the glorious sunlight of the winter days which 
makes Athens charming to the resident and the so- 
journer, and which should attract to it many of our 
countrymen in Europe, who now seek winter quarters 
in the fogs of London or under the uncertain skies of 
Florence and Rome. Winter in Athens' is generally an 
unbroken duration of cloudless skies ; and with the ex- 
ception of occasional sharp winds from the northern hills, 
the atmosphere is as soft as are the early days of Octo- 
ber with us. After the autumn rains, a cheerful expanse 
of sunlight warms the wintry air; and overcoats and shawls 
are worn more from precaution than from necessity. 
Snow falls upon the mountains, but rarely whitens the 
streets of Athens. The dazzling crowns of snow on the 
summits of Hymettus and the range of the Parnes moun- 
tains, contrasting with their harmonious slopes of vary- 
ing purple, furnish one of the most charming spectacles 
in nature. But all of Greece is not exempt from the 
meteorological changes which afflict the greater part of 
Europe. Much rain falls in the Ionian Islands, and in 
Corfu the winter winds are unusually severe. Attica 
alone is dry, which is partially attributable to the scar- 
city of vegetation, which reduces the quantum of oxygen 
and creates what is commonly called a " nervous " cli- 
mate.* There is also much fever prevalent at certain 
seasons of the year, and what is designated as the 

* To this absence of atmospheric moisture in Greece, is chiefly 
to be ascribed the remarkable preservation of her ancient monu- 
ments. 



ATHENS. ^'^ 

" Greek " fever, although mild in form and seldom iatal, 
is exceedingly difficult to shake off — its debilitating ef- 
fects remaining in the system for years. Yet people 
live in Greece, as did the ancients, to an extraordinary 
age. It is no uncommon thing to hear of the decease 
of individuals who had attained the age of ninety. Nota- 
rus, who presided at the National Assembly in 1843, was 
one hundred and ten years old. A priest near Athens, 
who is chiefly noted for the number of bottles of native 
wine that he imbibes daily, is believed to be between 
ninety and a hundred, and the bishop, whose funeral 
ceremony has just been alluded to, was about the same 
age. My friend General Church, whose Philhellenic 
sympathies brought him to Greece during the revolution, 
and who now enjoys the nominal honor of Commander- 
in-Chief of the Greek Army, is popularly held to be over 
one hundred years old. He is at least ninety, and pos- 
sesses remarkable activity of body and mind. No man 
is more punctilious in his compliance with the demands 
of social life. He seldom wears an overcoat, and it is 
his boast that his parlor fire is the last to be lighted in 
Athens. 

The social life of the Capital, although limited 
among the Greeks to morning visits and small reunions, 
is agreeable. Musical and dancing parties are much in 
vogue ; but balls and dinners are almost exclusively con- 
fined to the Palace and to the Diplomatic Corps. One 
or two dinners, balls or petites soirees are given monthly 
by the king and queen \ and the ball-room of the pal- 



56 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

ace — one of the finest in Europe — is brilliant on these 
occasions with fair women in becoming toilettes, and 
the chief men of the kingdom, glittering in uniforms 
and with decorations. Society is very exclusive in 
Athens, and private parties are apt to be but repetitions 
of the same people transferred to different parlors : the 
same small talk; the same waiters bringing in the same 
trays of ices and cakes, prepared by the same confis- 
setir. The Greek ladies dress tastefully, without extrav- 
agance ; and there is no assemblage without many faces, 
which, in profile especially, exhibit the Greek type of 
beauty. They are calm and impassive, as compared 
with the French, and their deportment is marked by a 
sobriety of manner precisely the reverse of that abandon 
which is observable in the ball-rooms of Western Capi- 
tals. As yet, the words " fast '' and " flirtation " seem 
not to have been admitted into the Greek young ladies^ 
vocabulary. 

The attractions of winter life in Athens culminate 
with the carnival, when the streets are thronged with a 
promiscuous crowd of maskers, composed almost ex- 
clusively of the lower orders, wtfcse efforts to produce 
any thing corresponding to the fetes of Rome are la- 
mentable failures. The upper classes ignore these 
proceedings, or confine themselves to " surprise visits " 
upon their friends, disguised in close dominoes and im- 
penetrable masks. During the carnival it is no uncom- 
mon thing for a family to be visited by several parties 
of maskers on the same evening, who preserve their 



ATHENS. 



57 



incognito so completely as to defy recognition by voice 
or manner. 

But if Athens is charming in winter, and especially 
in the spring — March and April being the most at- 
tractive months — it is simply detestable in sum- 
mer. The foreigner who is compelled to reside in 
the Capital from May to October is not to be envied. 
The *' sun of Greece " is then no longer a glory^ but a 
scourge to the eye. Every particle of vegetation wilts 
under its pitiless rays — sultry days and sultry nights 
wearily succeed to each other without the relief of a 
single refreshing breeze or a single shower. The wind 
blows, but it is a hot and feverish blast, filling the 
deserted streets with dust — the same dust that teased 
the ancient Athenians — which, rolling along like smoke 
clouds from a field of battle, blinds the hapless pedes- 
trian, and disgusts the as hapless individual within 
doors, who is left to choose between open windows with 
dirt, or closed ones with suffocation. But worse than 
the plague of dust, is the plague of mosquitoes and 
gnats. The former may be partially excluded by win- 
dow blinds and bed curtains, but the latter defy the in- 
ventions of man. The little gnat is invisible to the 
naked eye, and not having the moral courage of the 
mosquito to announce its approach, attacks every ex- 
posed part of the human body, especially the hands and 
wrists, leaving the skin in a state of irritation which lasts 
for hours. 

Those who can do so, fly from the summer torments 
3^ 



58 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

of Athens to their country estates, or to the islands. 
Those who are forced to remain, seek consolation in 
sea bathing, and from four o'clock until ten every 
morning, carriages filled with bathers are heard rolling 
through the streets of Athens, on their way to the baths 
of Phalerum. 

The King and Queen sojourn at the beautiful 
island of, Corfu during the summer months, where the 
cHmate, although warm, is less dry than Athens, and 
where their Majesties enjoy a delightful respite from 
political annoyances of the Capital. 

But no climatic considerations wean the Greek 
from his country. He may take up his abode in 
foreign cities for the commercial advantages to be 
gained therefrom, or if he can afford it, he will do as 
many others do, abandon himself to the illusions of the 
French Capital; but as a rule, foreign travel does not 
lessen his attachment to his native land, and the re- 
appearance of the Grecian cliffs, are as " blissful" a 
view to him as they were to the wandering -3^eietfta€liU:&r" 
Even those who do not return to Greece, — their interests 
and associations being bound up in the foreign land 
where they have reared their families and accumulated 
their fortunes — do not forget her. Their pulses beat 
time with their countrymen, however so much scattered, 
and no people are more sensitive to the national honor 
and shame than the closely-cemented societies of Greeks 
in the commercial cities of Europe and the United 
States. The number of Americans who visit Athens is 



ATHENS. 



59 



small in comparison with the vast shoal of travellers 
who run over Europe and distribute their gold in places 
of far less intrinsic interest. This is not surprising in 
view of the prevailing ignorance respecting Greece, and 
the current reports of danger to tourists from brigandage. 
This datiger; although much exaggerated, exists, and 
should not be disregarded by the traveller, however ad- 
venturously inclined. Athens, however, is as safe a city, 
so far as personal danger is concerned, as any in the 
world j and those who visit it, coming westward from the 
greasy lanes of Constantinople and the squalid towns 
of the Levant, are surprised at the cheerful and attract- 
ive look which the city presents. An exalted person- 
age, who had been the recipient of all the honors which 
the Sublime Porte had it in its power to bestow, re- 
marked, on his arrival at Athens, '' This is the first time 
I have breathed for weeks. It is positively refreshing 
to get into a free and Christian air again." This is ap- 
plicable as much to externals as to principles ; for mod- 
ern Athens is not unworthy of the language which Mil- 
ton applied to the ancient Capital : 

" On the ^gean shore a city stands, 
Built nobly ; pure the air and light the soil ; 
Athens, the eye of Greece."" 

Excepting her magnificent ruins, upon which the 
eye of the classical scholar and the archaeologist may 
feast for an indefinite period, and which must ever make 
Athens a Mecca to the investigating mind, the city does 
not possess sufficient resources to induce the mere 



6o THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

pleasure seeker to linger there many weeks ; but not to 
see Athens at all, not to stand beneath her marvellous 
sky and breathe her "pellucid air," and look, once at 
least, upon her masterpieces of Grecian art, is to be de- 
nied an experience which -unites the grandest sugges- 
tions of antiquity with the realization of the simplest of 
present enjoyments. 



THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 




THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 

Y first visit to the Acropolis was postponed 
by occupations whicli, even had time per- 
mitted, would have distracted the mind 
from that concentrate observation which is essential 
to the enjoyment of Art. Without this explana- 
tion, it might appear a little remarkable that a man 
could live for three months within half an hour's 
walk of the sublimest of ancient temples, without so 
much as a single visit to it. But what will be thought 
of one who, without this excuse of pre-occupation, 
passed three years in Athens without setting foot on the 
Acropolis ! This gentleman was a Secretary of one of 
the foreign legations, and his tendencies might be called 
destructive, rather than conservative, inasmuch as he 
preferred to employ his leisure moments, when freed 
from the red tape of official routine, in shooting wood- 
cock in the swamps near Athens, or angling for red 
mullet off the Phalerum, than in the idle survey of dead 
masonry. I believe he would have quitted Athens with- 
out so much as the ceremony of a call upon the 
Parthenon, if he had not been beguiled thither by one 
of his sporting acquaintances, who reported that for sev- 



64 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

eral days a " queer bird " had been seen flying about the 
ruins. Touched thus in the region of his ornithological 
weakness, the Secretary seized his fowling piece and 
made all haste to the temple of Minerva. But from that 
moment the peculiar charm about the man was lost. I 
could no longer regard him in the light of an original : 
he had done what every other man in Athens does — 
visited the Parthenon. Meeting him a few days after, 
I asked him what he thought of it. " O," said he, " it 
was only a crow, after all." 

A good many who visit Athens, do the ruins, guide 
book in hand, and profess to have been ^' enchanted," 
leave Greece with a scarcely more defined impression 
of their greatness than my friend the Secretary, who at 
least, was sincere in his indifference. 

Between the enthusiast who arrives in the highest 
condition of mental excitement, and who prolongs his 
stay far beyond his previous intention, as his scholastic 
appetite grows with what it feeds on : and ' the ig- 
noramus who asked the landlord of his hotel "what the 
Acropolis was that he heard so much talk about ? " — 
and which he probably supposed to be an animal — 
there is a large class of travellers who are content with 
the most superficial glance at the ruins of Ancient 
Greece. Having paused for a respectable number of 
minutes before the Temple of Theseus, the columns of 
the Jupiter Olympus, the Parthenon and the Erectheum, 
they check them off in their Bcedekers^ or Murray s^ 
and begin to enquire how soon they can leave Athens 



THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 



6S 



for the next point in their travelHng itinerary. I am far 
from supposing that even to these minds some whole- 
some and enduring ideas are not conveyed by the in- 
spection of the remains of ancient Art. Even the oft- 
quoted individual who was disappointed in Rome be- 
cause it was " all in ruins/' and the distinguished 
American who remarked to me, while standing be- 
fore the Olympian columns, that they were not " as tall 
nor as big as our trees in California '' — even these must 
have received suggestions — fragmentary and immature 
as they were, which expanded into reflection in after 
years. I am by no means sure that the quickest appre- 
hensions of art are the noblest or ipost enduring. I 
defy an unaccustomed eye to judge between the merits 
of an old master and a well executed copy, or to select, 
without guidance, the chief works of merit in the col- 
lections of Florence or Rome. For years before seeing 
it, I was under the impression that the Parthenon was 
the prototype of the Church of the Madeleine at Paris ; 
and I fancy that this idea prevails with many, even after 
they have looked upon both structures ; but I have seen 
a well known archaeologist made wild by this sugges- 
tion, putting the people who hold this opinion and the 
" gingerbread monstrosity of Paris," as he termed it, in 
the same category. The truth is, the Parthenon will 
never be repeated. Why this is so, must remain among 
the mysteries. It may be that the religious reverence 
and feeling which gave expression to the old ideals in 
marble and in painting, have been trodden out by the 



66 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

rush of humanity. Life is more and more material, and 
further and further recedes from that absorbing emotion 
which, under the form of worship, gave sliapes to stone 
which even in their feeble and imperfect remains defy 
imitation. Thus the sad, roofless hall of the Parthenon 
receives a sadder influence from the fact that Christian 
centuries have done, can do, nothing so far as monu- 
mental exponents go, approaching that which was done 
for the service of Paganism. Did we not aspire to do 
it ; did not men tax their inventive energies and spend 
money freely in erecting magnificent edifices for public 
worship, the admonition of St. Paul, uttered within a 
stone's throw of this very Parthenon, might be quoted 
as an excuse for not attempting to rival these " temples 
made with hands." But the fact is precisely the re- 
verse : and so to-day we continue to gaze upon the re- 
mains of these masterpieces of architectural beauty, 
and to ask and re-ask ourselves the question how it is 
that here, on the spot where we stand, the intellectual 
supremacy of ancient Greece sprung Adam-like, with- 
out a father ; and the beauty of her ancient Art sprung 
Eve-like, without a mother — self-created and destined 
themselves to create generations of genius. 

The first look at the Parthenon may disappoint some, 
as it did me, who expected to see it loftier in altitude 
and glistening in whiteness ; — as immaculate in Pentelic 
purity as the marble goddess it once enshrined. On fur- 
ther acquaintance this disappointment wears away. The 
huge, unsightly Venetian tower of the middle ages which, 



THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 67 

'' like a barbaric sentinel," rises near the Propylaea, and 
ought long ago to have been thrown down as having noth- 
ing in common with the rest of the scene, — dwarfs the 
temples of the Acropolis. But for this, the Parthenon 
would assume to the eye the proportions which it really 
possesses, and which are realized only when the visitor, 
picking his way between the masses of broken marble 
and drums of columns, stands directly before the ruins 
and shuts out from sight and memory the deformity be- 
hind him. Although called by the poets — golden — the 
color of the temple is a dull reddish brown ; stained, 
streaked and mottled by the action of the elements. 
Many of the columns are blackened with smoke from 
the wooden structures erected against them in the period 
of Turkish occupation. There are places where the 
original purity of the stone is visible, white as the frac- 
tures, and times when the angle of light gives to the 
whole southern side a snowy lustre, faintly recalling its 
pristine beauty as it glistened pure and perfect under 
the same sun which lies upon it to-day, with its grand 
projecting sculptures and colored mettopes before the 
eyes of the Ancient Greeks, as they wound around the 
walls in the Panathenaic procession, and entered its 
eastern portal. Here are the very marks on the pedi- 
ment where hung their victors' shields; here, in the 
floor of the cella is the space where stood the statue of 
the goddess in ivory and gold ; and here are the circular 
grooves where swung open the massive western doors. 
So too the ruts in the stones beneath the Propylaea 



68 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

worn by the chariot wheels and the marks of horses' 
hoofs, are still visible ; and between the Propylaea and 
the Erectheum, the space is marked where rose the 
colossal Minerva Promachus, sixty-six feet of bronze, 
poising her traditional spear. All this is impressive, as 
is also the large collection of sculptured fragments — 
mere fragments, many of them scarcely suggestive of 
their original beauty and fitness — which lie huddled in 
corners or ranged along the walls of the Propylsea — 
but all these, once inspected, are lost in the sublime 
oppression which fills the mind in presence of the great 
temple itself. I have heard nothing more hideous 
than the sound of laughter in the empty hall of the 
Parthenon, and I fancy it is seldom heard there. Tea- 
drinkings and singing on moonlight nights sometimes 
desecrate the scene, and I was told that an American 
lady once recited her own rhymes within the walls which 
have echoed from the theatre below, the majestic lan- 
guage of ^schylus and Sophocles ! But as a rule, peo- 
ple walk about the ruins in small and quiet parties, sub- 
dued in voice and in feeling by the indescribable rever- 
ence which is born of external grandeur and decay. 
As no existing monument has such magnificent associa- 
tions with the past, so none can furnish such a mlilti- 
tude of reflections to the solitary individual sitting in 
its midst. The Egyptian pyramids are reduced to mere 
masses of masonry in comparison with the exalted 
spirit, which ever breathing a divine cadence, haunts 
the wide chamber and sublime porticos of the Parthe- 



THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 69 

non. These walls were not only the exemplification 
in themselves of the most elaborate art, but in their 
''•' perfectedness '' and in their abandonment, they have 
looked down from their rocky throne — not upon a 
boundless level of lifeless sand, but upon the mutations 
of centuries ; the birth and death of generations from 
the grandest epoch of civilization, crowded with evi- 
dences of human genius and achievement, through all 
the stages of foreign conquest, decrepitude, decay and 
regeneration. In presence of the Parthenon, the ex- 
pression " Corridors of Time " ceases to be a poetical 
figufe. Here is a visible and material corridor, down 
which the ages have passed — as the winds now pass, 
from gentlest breeze to fiercest tornado — while the 
stones of two thousand years stood cold, passionless 
and immovable. Here in this sanctuaried city on a hill, 
where all is old and nothing is new — where no life is, 
but the life that is no more, and where memories are its 
invisible inhabitants — here — choosing the time when 
the condition of mind favors such contemplation — man 
may realize his own insignificance, and rise to higher 
issues on these stepping-stones of history. AVhether the 
towering walls glow with midday or reflect the crimson 
sunset of the Grecian evening ; or, bathed in those mar- 
vellous moonlights, stand naked and peerless beside the 
drapery of their shadows, they are alike the exponents 
of that inexplicable mystery which, in our bUndness and 
our weakness, assures us that we are passing be- 
yond. I cannot say that the reflections suggested by 



70 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

a visit to the Parthenon are cheering, but the contrast 
which it offers to the ordinary experiences of Ufe — 
though at times painful and always mournful, are whole- 
some to the souh I leave to connoisseurs and art critics, 
the discussion of the principles of curvilinear lines ; — 
the details of triglyphs, and peristyles and the treat- 
ment of metiopes and friezes which form so important 
a part of the attractions of the Athenian remains, and 
which are sources of never-failing wonder to those even 
who do not know the first principles of architecture. It 
is enough to say on this point, that only in later years the 
remarkable dscovery has been made, that all th^ col- 
umns of the Parthenon deviate from the strictly per- 
pendicular ; that is, that they incline inward to the extent 
of about three inches in their height.* Again, that the 
profile lines of the columns are convex, although ap- 
pearing straight. Not only does each column converge 
from the base of the shaft to the top of the capital, but 
the axes converge also " to assist the perspective of 
elevation." Still again, the architrave forms a curve ; 
and the steps of the temple, although strictly horizon- 
tal, are convex on the surface, rising in the middle to 
about three inches in a hundred feet. These delicate 
variations from ordinary rules of architecture, can 
be verified by running the eye upward from the base 
of the column, and by placing an object on one end of 
the steps of the temple, and the eye on a level at the 

* Pennethorne, an English traveller, discovered the inclination 
of the column in 1837. 



THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 



71 



otner end, when the lower parts of the object will be 
concealed from view, by the intervening bulge of the 
marble. Other instances of deviation are detailed by 
tne writers on this subject ; the purpose of which was to 
correct the appearance of diminution by distance and 
height ; multiply the apparent size of the whole, and in- 
crease the effect by a systematic massing of light and 
shadow.* No wonder that in a temple architecturally 
faultless, and made so by the most ingenious study and 
laborious work, the modern designer stands aghast, and 
hesitates to attempt that which he cannot hope to copy 
and knows he cannot surpass. 

In remarking upon the effect conveyed by this sub- 
lijne ruin^ I would not be supposed to fall into the habit 
of Greek enthusiasts, who assert that all other art is in 
subjection to the principles of ancient Greece. Both 
in an artistic and ethical point of view, Anglo-Gothic 
architecture seems to me to be invested with a charac- 
ter as grand for its purposes as that of the Greek Tem- 
ple. Most people would prefer to make York Minster 
the shrine of their worship, rather than a temple model- 
ed after that of the Parthenon, at Athens. The feeling in- 
spired by the architecture of the one is chiefly moral, that 

* An intelligent American artist, observing that the rain was 
easily shed from the horizontal stones of the Parthenon, came to the 
conclusion that the convex lines were intended for this purpose, 
that the water might not sink into the interstices between the blocks 
and loosen the cement. If the deviation from the straight line had 
reference simply to effect, he is of opinion that the builders would 
have adopted the concave instead of convex line. 



72 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

of the latter chiefly intellectual. . But the Greek artist in- 
terpreted a popular sentiment, which vitalized the whole 
social and political life of his country. The pride of 
externals had no small share in causing these noble tem- 
ples to be erected ; but the great motive power was reli- 
gious duty as distinguished from religious love, which 
took expression in color in the after schools of Chris- 
tian art. Although the Parthenon was erected for 
the admiration of the Greeks as the chief adornment 
of a city where each citizen, in his life and in the dis- 
position of his wealth, sacrificed his own interests to 
the glory of the State, vanity was a subjective princi- 
ple to that of religious faith. It was the expression of 
an inflexible belief in a Supernal Wisdom, it mattered 
not whether that Wisdom bore the name of God or God- 
dess. That Minerva — the tutelary Divinity of the city — 
should be honored by a temple worthy of her worship, 
was the impelling cause which moved the appropria- 
tion of so large a portion of the public money, and 
nerved the brains of the architect and the hands of the 
workmen. Even the brute beasts that dragged the 
marble blocks from the quarries of Pentelicus were 
honored for the part they had taken in the sacred work ; 
and, by a pubHc decree, the fattest pastures around the 
city were allotted to them. Thus considered, the Greek 
temple of worship was the stoniest fact that mortal ever 
erected. Poetry was dumb beside the marbled reality 
and absorbing sentiment which it embodied. 

But ''or the absolute dominion exercised by the 



THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 73 

Doric temple, and which reduces the Erectheura to an 
appearance of dependence, the latter would attract to^, 
it more attention. Out of sight of any other struc- 
ture, it would surprise and satisfy by its delicacy and 
variety of treatment. The suggestions it awakens are 
of a totally different character from those of the Parthe- 
non. It stands like a self-forgetful maiden, awed by 
the majesty of her imperial mother. The three porti- 
cos, Ionic columns, and, above all, the six caryatides of 
draped females, give a lightness and legendary associa- 
tion to the remains, which elevate rather than depress. 
They seem to have a story to tell even before we re- 
member, that here was the scene of the contest between 
Neptune and Minerva for the protectorate of the city. 
Three holes are shown in the rock beneath the pave- 
ment, as the marks of Poseidon's trident, and the tree 
of the Goddess — " the revered ancestor of all Athenian 
Olives," grew in the middle of the chamber of Pandrosa. 
" This temple," says Dr. Wordsworth, " had not merely a 
religious but a moral character ; serving as it were, as 
mediator between the two rival deities, Athena and Po- 
seidon, to reconcile them to each other, and to endear 
Athens to both." It is only on closely approaching the 
portico of the caryatides, that we perceive that two of 
the figures are substitutes for the originals — the one by 
the whiteness of the marble, the other by its dull, un- 
genuine look, being a cast in cement ; a changling thrust 
upon the people in place of the legitimate princess, who 
supports her sad exile in the hall of the British Museum. 
4. 



74 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



It is said that after the figure was removed from the 
portico, the bereaved sister sent up a plaintive waii, 
which could be heard every night in Athens. Would it 
might have been heard in London ! English tourists, 
from Byron downwards, have not been less open-mouthed 
than those of other nationalities in denouncing Lord 
Elgin's rape of the Parthenon ; but thus far the love of 
possession has proved stronger than national self-re- 
spect. The heart of private collectors is hard enough ; 
what then must be that of the British Museum ? The 
amiable Earl of Carlisle, in his " Diary in Greek Waters," 
partially justifies Lord Elgin's robbery by allusion to 
the " neglected and squalid state " of many of the ruins 
at Athens. But this excuse, which might have been 
good twenty years ago, fails now ; for nothing can exceed 
the careful guardianship of every thing in the shape of 
antiquity in Athens. The custodian of the Acropolis 
scrupulouly inspects every visitor to whom he unlocks 
the gate, and a guard follows, at a respectful distance, 
each person or party until they are safely out of the sa- 
cred enclosure. This precaution is especially necessary 
in the case of foreigners, one of whom was a few years 
since discovered hammering off the toe of the exqui- 
site relief of the " Wingless Victory," which is now pro- 
tected from further insult behind the grated door of her 
little temple. The ofiicial character of foreign ministers 
exempts them from any surveillance when visiting the 
Acropolis ; and yet, in view of the example set by the 
great English ambassador, whose diplomacy gave him 



THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 



75 



far less notoriety than his artistic pillage, one might 
suppose that this class of public servants would be 
continually under the ban of relic-hunting suspicion. 

Hawthorne, speaking of the collection in the British 
Museum, says : " There is an excellence in ancient 
sculpture wdiich has yet a potency to educate and refine 
the minds of those who look at it," and it is true that 
those who look at it in the galleries of Europe are a 
thousand to one in comparison to the few who are pri- 
vileged to visit the original shrines. But to my mind 
there is a higher consideration than this. The friezes 
of the Parthenon are the marble pages of its decora- 
tion, ruthlessly torn from the great book of Grecian art 
to which they belong, as much as do the leaves taken 
from a precious volume, and are essential to the conti- 
nuity of the text of which they form a component part. 
Elgin did a great wrong, but there were extenuating cir- 
cumstances. He found the treasures of the Acropolis 
in the hands, or rather under the feet of Turks, whose 
highest conception of their value lay in the fact that the 
stones could be employed for building purposes. They 
accordingly tore down, built up or desecrated these 
precious relics, according to whim or fancied necessity. 
The English Minister found many of the friezes lying 
neglected on the ground, and the temptation to send 
them to England was one not to be easily resisted. 
The permission for a quid pro quo was readily ob- 
tained from the indolent-minded authorities, but it is 
said that his lordship was allowed to appropriate only 



76 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

such fragments as were detached from the main build- 
■ ing, or were " lying on the ground." That he exceeded 
his instructions and desecrated the temple in removing 
a large number of metj'opes, and the finest sculptures in 
high relief which adorned the frieze, there is reason to 
believe. But Lord Elgin is in his grave, as still as the 
marbles, which will outlive his memory. We have now 
to deal with the Government that paid the betrayal 
money, and controls these works of art. A few years 
since the Greek Government made a formal request for 
the return of the sculptures. The diplomatic reply 
was that '^ The British Government did not consider 
Greece to be in a position to make such a request." 
This is the answer to the child who petitions for the re- 
turn of her legacy of jew^els — ^jewels which hung upon 
her mother's neck when she was young and fair, and 
art espoused her for its own. Better far than diplo- 
matic evasion would have been the Biblical plea, '^ To 
trenn. jj^j^ ^-j^g^^ hath shall be given, but to him that hath not, 

shall be taken away even that which he hath." 

It is often asked why further attempts to restore the 
beautiful temples of the Acropolis are not made. I be- 
lieve that the drums of pillars still scattered about the 
ruins have been examined for that purpose, but the frag- 
ments of no entire column remain. The former king, 
Otho, attempted to reconstruct a portion of the Erecthe- 
.^ um, but the delicate tracery of a single column, — which is 

now seen upon the ground — caused such a serious in- 
road upon the treasury that the work w^as abandoned. 



THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 



77 



Among the entertainments provided for the Prince 
and Princess of Wales when they visited Athens — and 
again on the following year, when the Empress Eugenie 
was there — was the illumination of the temples of the 
Acropolis by artificial fires. Instead of the theatrical 
and meretricious effect which I feared, the spectacle was 
highly impressive. Imagine the vast space between the 
temples filled with a dense, but utterly silent crowd of 
people, whose presence was not realized until the masses 
of colored light — pale green, dark green, sapphire, and 
ruby, by turns — suddenly illuminated the throng of spec- 
tators, and the classic ruins among which they appeared. 
First, the porticos of the great marble entrance to the 
Acropohs, the glorious Propylaea, were simultaneously 
lighted up — the western wall with a flood of ruby, and 
the eastern wdth a fine contrast of greenish white — giv- 
ing to the whole a realizing idea of those transcendent 
temples which imaginative minds love to picture as the 
celestial abodes of purified souls. When the colors faded 
into darkness, the Parthenon had its turn ; the contrast- 
ing colors being applied to the columns and walls 
until they glowed with supernatural effulgence. As the 
chemical fires, and the men who held them, were con- 
cealed behind the columns, the effect was not marred b}^ 
moving figures or machinery. Perhaps the most strik- 
ing scene of all was when the six life-sized maidens of 
the Erectheum suddenly stood forth in solemn presence 
like an apparition from the mighty past, their counte- 
nances and long draped robes livid with unnatural light, 



78 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

as they gazed for a few brief moments fixedly upon the 
multitude, then faded slowly into darkness. 

The most enthusiastic description can scarcely ex- 
aggerate the panoramic view on a clear day from the 
heights of the Acropolis. Here one may stand where 
the father of Theseus stood gazing for the returning 
sail ; or better still, mount to the top of the roof of the 
Parthenon, and sitting on one of its marble beams — more 
than twenty feet in length — look out upon the ^gean 
sea — the island of ^gina ; the straits of immortal 
Salamis — the Parnes range and " Phyle's brow," where 
Thrasybulus and his seventy withstood the power of 
the Thirty Tyrants — Pentelicus, whose womb brought 
forth the marble on which the spectator rests, and 
Hymettus — behind which can be felt, though seen not, 
the memorable plain of Marathon. This is the boundary 
circle of the panorama, of which the Acropolis is its 
liut. central point. In the valley below spreads the thick 
grove of the " Academe," with the hill of columns on 
its right, the scene of the death of CEdipus, and the 
:' winding bed of the Cephis^us, like its sister streami on 
the other side of the picture — now almost waterless. 
The eye runs along the road to Daphne and traces the 
Via Sacra, where streamed the Panathenaic processions 
on their w^ay to and from the great Eleusinian Myste- 
ries. At the base of his rocky throne, the spectator 
sees the Modern Athens stretching to the northeast ; 
and peering into its maze of streets he can descry 
the " Tower of the Winds," the Choragi c Monument 



THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 



79 



of Lysicrates and other relics of the ancient city. 
Here, apart from the town, on its broad square dotted 
with squads of soldiers under drill, stands the Temple 
of Theseus — the best preserved ruin of Ancient Greece 
— tawny in color like the Parthenon and more severely 
simple in its proportions. Across the road on its left, 
like a wall of smooth masonry, is the Pnyx, from the 
^' Bema" of which Demosthenes thundered his Philippics; 
while the valley below is the site of the ancient Agora, 
where Pericles and Phidias walked and talked, Plato 
reasoned, and Socrates confounded the shopkeepers and 
idlers of the market place with philosophic subtleties. 
Immediately below the spectator, a rocky offshoot of 
the Acropolis fixes the attention, only when it is remem- 
bered that on its little circular summit sat the tribunal of 
the Areopagus, against whose final decrees there was no 
appeal, and where centuries afterwards, Paul preached 
his memorable sermon. The black cleft in one ex- 
tremity of the rock is assigned as the " Cave of the 
Furies." The eye, thus brought homeward, surveys the 
precipitous sides of the Acropolis, the city's " specula- 
tive crest." It is indented with natural fissures, which 
are charmed with the titles of the " Cave of Pan " and 
the ^^ Grotto of Apollo," but the southern slope is rich 
with the remains of the " Odeum of Herodes " and the 
" Theatre of Dionysus." The massive Roman Arches 
of the former are imposing; but Roman remains on 
Greek soil fail to excite much interest beside the older 
and more precious evidences of that earlier epoch from 



8o THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

which the mind of the visitor in Greece would not wil- 
hngly be diverted. The Theatre of Dionysus, com- 
monly known as the Theatre of Bacchus, exhumed only 
within a few years, is far more interesting with its ranges 
of marble seats and the high reliefs facing the orchestra ; 
and although little, perhaps nothing, of the days of 
^schylus, Sophocles, and Euripides remains, yet, who 
can stand above that glorious arena and before the 
" void stage," without a passing vision of that glory of 
which but a few translated rays have come down to us ? 
The remains of the great Temple of the Jupiter 
Olympus stand on a broad square of ground eastward 
of the Acropolis. Of these sixteen superb Corinthian 
columns, all but three stand together at one angle of the 
rectangular platform, upon which were formerly ranged 
one hundred and twenty-four columns, covering a space 
of three hundred and fifty-four feet, by a breadth of, 
one hundred and seventy-one feet ! Of the three re- 
maining columns, which are at a little distance from the 
main group, one was thrown down a few years ago by a 
severe gale, and now lies stretched at their base, like the 
disjointed vertebrae of a colossal skeleton. Twenty- 
nine feet higher than the pillars of the Parthenon, and 
without wall or pediment, they are more impressive in 
sublime isolation, than the masterpiece of Phidias on 
the height above. " Templum unum in terris inchoatum 
pro magnitudine dei," it is now one of the grandest in 
its lesson of decay. The position which the remains 
occupy could not be improved. If on an elevation like 



THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 8 1 

the Acropolis, the shafts would be dwarfed by the 
pedestal ; but standing clean and bold on a wide unin- 
terrupted level of ground, with only the transparent air 
between them and the distant glitter of the ^gean sea, 
they are never-ceasing objects of delight. This temple 
is in one sense the oldest and the youngest of Grecian 
ruins. " Begun in the first burst of Athenean great- 
ness, seven centuries passed before its completion, and 
it becomes thus identical with the progress and decay 
o^ Greece. Erected for the worship of the Supreme 
God of the Greek mythology, that worship was super- 
seded by the dawn of Christianity before its last stones 
were laid." To what period of this extraordinary his- 
tory the existing pillars belong, has not, I believe, been 
ascertained. The fallen column adds very much to the 
effect of the scene, and the proposition which has from 
time to time been made for its removal, will, it is to be 
hoped, never be acted upon. Some years ago a public 
spirited countryman of ours, moved, no doubt, by the 
success of Lord Elgin, made an effort to purchase 
this column ; but the days of Turkish rapacity had 
gone by, and Greece was. not to be cajoled into a 
second desecration of her relics. As a matter of curi- 
osity, 1 caused a German architect at Athens to esti- 
mate the cost of re-erecting the fallen pillar. He went 
into a minute calculation, by which it was shown that 
the simply setting up of the sections, one upon another, 
and the restoration of the base, would cost about three 
thousand dollars. This gives a faint idea of the cost of the 



82 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

erection of the entire temple. The eighteen sections of the 
prostrate column lie as they fell, each lapping its fellow. 
They measure six feet and four inches in diameter, so 
that a man standing on a level behind one of the drums, 
would be entirely concealed from view. This will sug 
gest the magnitude of the standing columns which rise 
to the height of fifty-five feet, supporting an architrave, 
one of the marble beams of which is stated to weigh 
twenty-three tons. One wonders, as he stands dwarfed 
before these monsters of art and beauty, what has be- 
come of the rest of the temple. If any considerable 
portion had been employed in building purposes, their 
remains would have been visible in parts of the old city. 
The Turks reduced much of the marble found at 
Athens to lime ; but this would hardly account for the 
disposition of more than an infinitesimal portion of the 
vast structure, which occupied seven hundred years in 
its construction and which has passed away like the 
palace of Aladdin in swiftness and silence, making no 
sign. 

The three grand temples of Ancient Athens — the 
Theseum, the Parthenon, and the Jupiter Olympus — lie 
far removed from each other, and at different elevations, 
but in respect to position are very nearly in an air line. 
The Parthenon is between the two other temples, and is 
also between them in point of size. Thus they lie tel- 
escopically, as it were, towards each other, for if 
movable, the Theseum could easily go inside the Par- 
thenon, and the Parthenon inside the Olympus. This 



THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 83 

gives an idea of the relative proportions of the three 
temples. 

One of our leading American painters, who was in 
Greece a few years ago, lamented to me that he had 
"wasted the entire winter among the stuccos of Rome," 
instead of passing it in Athens among the only " real " 
monuments of ancient art he had ever surveyed. Trav- 
ellers, historians, poets and painters, have paid to these 
temples the highest tribute which pen and pencil can 
bestow, and there is nothing now left for us but to enjoy 
them. The civilized world agrees in this, that it cannot 
too heartily rejoice in the preservation of these monu- 
ments and matchless marbles which illustrate Ancient 
Greek Art in Florence, Rome and Paris, and which are in- 
deed the noblest things those noble cities have to show to- 
day. And yet, how would it have been if no vestige 
had remained of all this beauty ? When I look at these 
temples, rescued miraculously, as it were, from the hands 
of time, and especially from the destructive hands of 
ignorance and barbarism during all these centuries, I 
am reminded of what the great Napoleon said of him- 
self when he and his followers escaped the dangers of 
the Red Sea : " If," said he, " I had perished like Pha- 
raoh, what a magnificent text it would have furnished 
to the preachers of Christendom." So would it have 
been with these monuments had they perished, and no 
stone been left upon another to delight the eye and 
gladden the heart. All the preachers in Christendom 
would have found a "glorious text" in the fact of their 



84 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

destruction, and attributed to Divine vengeance the 
sweeping away from the face of the earth of every 
vestige of Pagan worship — every idolatrous temple, 
every marble god, and every nude divinity. 



POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 




POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 
MODERN GREEKS. 

E is the only honest man in Athens," said 
an English friend to me soon after my ar- 
rival, referring to a Greek gentleman 
whom he met going out of my house as he himself was 
coming in. I was startled at the overwhelming denun- 
ciation implied by the remark. Much as I had heard, 
here and abroad, of the " degraded character " of the 
modern Greek, of his " utter disregard of moral obliga- 
tions," of his " cunning, duplicity, knavery, vainglory," 
and other obliquity, I was not prepared to find that but 
a single example of righteousness existed in the capital 
of Greece. But if this knowledge was painful, there 
was something refreshingly original in the idea that out 
of a population of forty or fifty thousand souls, one hu- 
man being stood pre-eminent as "the noblest work of 
God," an honest man. Seizing — mentally, of course — 
this rare specimen of pure humanity in a society of 
knaves, I placed him with tender care upon the foremost 
shelf of my cabinet of Greek curiosities. And a very fine 
specimen he was, inasmuch as he officially occupied the 
highest seat in the highest judicial tribunal in the king- 



88 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

dom — a position which at least indicated good judg- 
ment on the part of those who had placed him there, 
and which seemed to encourage the hope that so prom- 
inent and pure an example of the upright judge might 
permeate the dissolute mass around him, and in time re- 
generate the people at large. But scarcely had I de- 
posited this rara avis in my museum, when anothei 
English friend pointed out to me in the street another 
Greek, whom he also designated as "the only honest 
man in Greece P^ This time it was a politician, one who 
had occupied prominent positions in the State, and who 
was believed to be strongly impregnated with les idees 
Anglaises, which, while it might account for the partial- 
ity accorded to him by my friend, encouraged the belief 
that under such an honest guide, even the crooked paths 
of politics might be made straight, and the desert of 
ambition blossom with the rose of patriotism. Do not 
accuse me of a tendency to embellish w^hen I add that 
before long a third man — the King's gardener, a Ger- 
man — was named to me as " the only honest man in 
Athens." This specimen, however, I rejected, not be- 
cause he was " honest " — Heaven forbid ! — but because 
he was not a Greek. Another honest man in the shape 
of a tailor soon after made his appearance. Him I ac- 
cepted, because, although popularly entitled to only a 
fractional part of humanity, I was assured that his meas- 
ures could be relied upon. In the course of time other 
" honest :aien," including merchants, professors, editors, 
and even lawyers, made themselves or were made known 



POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 89 

to me, until my museum of natural curiosities became 
so crowded that a question arose in my mind, whether 
it would not be more curious to make a collection of the 
dishonest men of Athens. Toward such a work I should 
have wanted no end of coadjutors. There was my 
friend A, who seemed to take a dear delight in picking 
up every social, moral, and political delinquency as ex- 
clusive attributes of the Greek character. As to nation- 
al virtue, he had lived there long enough not to discov- 
er any ; or if by hazard some good trait did occasionally 
appear upon the surface, it was attributed to that under- 
current oi foreign influence which alone is believed to 
freshen and redeem the turbid waters of effete Hellen- 
ism. Then there was my friend B, who had studied 
and pondered over, and written, and talked about Greek 
history from the Roman conquest to the reign of Otho, 
and ought certainly to know all about it from root to 
branch. He had found the root rotten and the branches 
sterile. His romantic ideas of Greece began to fade 
from the moment that he set foot on the " classic soil '' 
in the days of the Greek revolution ; and his experience 
of many years in the country had taught him, too late, 
the bitter truth that investments in real estate in Greece 
do not always yield the golden harvest that was expect- 
ed ; and that tireless reiterations of Greek national defi- 
ciencies in volumes, magazines, and London newspa- 
pers, do not win that laurel wreath of renown with which 
incessant literary labor sometimes crowns the hoary head 
of intellectual age Again, there was my friend C, who 



90 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



regarded it as his special duty to connect with diplo-. 
matic periods the scattered bones of Athenian poHtics, 
and present the abhorred spectacle of the fleshless skel- 
eton to his master of the Foreign office. Nobody ever 
could deny that the bones were real, and if he did not 
choose to admit that there were other bones where he 
found these, cloth(3d in flesh and blood, and performing 
the healthful functions of humanity, it was not his busi- 
ness to publish ihi) fact. There was also my friend D, 
as honest-hearted a man as one meets with in a lifetime, 
who took an early opportunity of assuring me that I 
would not be six months in Athens before all my enthu- 
siastic ideas, if I had any, about the Greeks, would be 
" washed out," and that I would find them, with scarce 
an exception, to be a worthless, sententious, impracti- 
cable race. Finally, not to go any further down the al- 
phabet of denunciators, there was E, who had passed 
years in the civil service abroad, and who is named in a 
certain publication of some merit as one " who knows 
more of the Ionian Islands than any other living Eng- 
lishman." E still holds ofiice in that quarter of the 
world which he knows so much about, and as his opin- 
ion of the people around him ought to be of weight, I 
give it. " The Greeks," said he to me one day as I 
called upon him in his official " den" — " the Greeks are 
a nation of freebooters, and the Greek Church a relig- 
ion of painted boards ;" accompanying this sententious 
utterance with a wave of the hand which set at defiance 
further argument, and left upon my mind a distinct im- 



POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. gi 

pression that, like Bunsby, he had given an opinion ^' as 
is an opinion." I have no doubt that my friend hon- 
estly beheved what he said. Englishmen are not hypo- 
-t^rites. As I have intimated, I found abundant coim- 
sellors ever ready to rise to the highest flights of Hel- 
lenic imagery to show me the emptiness of the bubble ; 
or to dive down the deepest wells of sophistry to bring 
up the pearl of truth. '' Will you just allow me to take 
you behind the scenes," said one of my mentors, " b} 
recounting to you an affair which I happen to know all 
about ? You are a little skeptical I think, and I would 
just like to give you an idea of the political corruption 
of this place." I had not the slightest objection what- 
ever to be taken behind the scenes. It was not the first 
time I had been there, and I was not altogether unac- 
quainted with the manner in which trap doors are man- 
aged, spirits conjured, or poHtical thunder manufactured. 
As to my skepticism on such subjects, my friend did 
me a grievous wrong. I was any thing but an unbeliever 
in the clap-trap of parties ; and as to political dishon- 
esty, how can a man pass years in various societies 
where the staple of conversation is partisan, not to say 
personal abuse, without believing somewhat in human 
depravity ? 

The manner in which my friend took me behind the 
scenes on the present occasion, was to seat me in a com- 
fortable corner of his sofa, and whisper in my ear the 
following tale of terror. But I will not weary the reader 
with details. Briefly the case was this : A certain prom- 



92 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



inent member of the opposition had actually proposed 
to one of the ministry, that if the latter would remove 
three officials, who for many years had held posts of 
trust under the government, and replace them with three 
of the personal friends of the politician, he would influ- 
ence the election, then about to be held, in favor of the 
existing ministry. This was the revelation that was to 
open my eyes to the degradation of Greek politics and 
the obliquity of Greek morals. It might have brought a 
smile to the countenance of a member of the New York 
*' Ring," but that of my narrator was stern with a sense 
of genuine indignation. I knew all the circumstances 
of this case before he told me, and the facts were as 
stated ; but my museum of Greek curiosities was at that 
time in an incomplete state, and I yielded to the temp- 
tation to bait my hook for more. '^ May it not be,'' said 
I, ^' that these three men now in office are untrustwor- 
thy, and might be replaced by better men ? " That's just 
the point," was the reply; "they hold places of great 
responsibility, and I never heard a word impugning 
their integrity or honor." Thus, with one haul of the 
line I caught three more " honest men of Greece," which, 
by-the-way, was no mean catch, seeing that my inform- 
ant was the same who, a short time before, had desig- 
nated one of the individuals before mentioned as the 
"only" specimen of the genus honoris in the kingdom 
of Greece. Before quitting the subject of our conver- 
sation I thought it only fair — considering that one good 
story deserves another — to remind my English friend 



POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 



93 



that only a few weeks previous, at a certain election in 
England, one man confessed to having received two 
thousand guineas to in-fluence votes in a single borough. 

This case of attempted bribery in high quarters is not 
the worst, any more than it is the least, of many that 
came under my notice in that country ; and yet it may be 
well doubted if political parties in Greece are as obnox- 
ious to the charge of corruption, or men in office of pec- 
ulation, as are those of older and richer communities, 
where, under far less temptati-on, open-handed bribery 
passes with comparative impunity. 

I may be excused for bringing my own countrymen 
into the catalogue of political delinquents. The New 
York journals furnish enough information on this head, 
which is duly circulated in monarchical society in Europe 
as a warning to embryo republicanism. But nothing is 
more natural than to ask how far the example of the 
three " Protecting powers " of Greece is calculated to 
give point to the sermons on political righteousness 
which are everlastingly being preached to the people of 
Greece. Are electioneering practices in England pure 
and undefiled ? Does ruf&anism prevail in any part of 
the United Kingdom, or make her capitals a by- word ? 
Are the masses of her population contented, educated, 
temperate, and virtuous ? Has she ever indulged in for- 
eign conquests, or kept millions of an alien people in 
subjection by immense armies? How stands France ? 
and is it true that when Greece looked at that government 
during the empire as to a guide, counsellor, and friend. 



94 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

she beheld " deputies sent up to her Assembly in the 
interest of corrupt administrations, bought by private 
gifts, or grants for unnecessary or extravagant public 
works?" How is it about the "jobbing and malversa- 
tion of all kinds " practised in Russia ? Is it true that 
the last emperor, in his attempts to stop the corruption 
of officials, found the whole machinery of government 
at a stand-still for want of the accustomed oiling, and in 
despair gave up the experiment ? If these self-appointed 
guardians of the little kingdom often, or even sometimes, 
follow the Pharisaical method of taking tithes of mint and 
cummin, while neglecting the weightier matters of the law, 
is it astonishing that the political child born in a gypsy 
camp does not spring more rapidly to the full proportions 
of statesman-like beauty — the realization of the senti- 
ment with which it is endowed ? 

Corruption in politics in Greece there most assuredly 
is. The vile lessons of barbaric centuries and the living 
lessons of civilization have not been lost upon the Greek 
mind. Money is employed to induce certain men in cer- 
tain parts to give certain political bearing to the elec- 
tions. Partisan principles are often advocated by bad 
men. Men in office, who have had their backs scratched, 
tickle their friends for doing it. Favorites get bones 
thrown to them under the table, and Lazarus without 
gets no crumbs. "A fat contract," if such a thing as 
fatness is to be found in Greece, gets reduced in its pro- 
portions before it reaches the rightful owner. " If one 
handles honey, some of it may stick to the fingers," is a 



POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 95 

Greek proverb of world-wide application. All these 
things, and more, occur in Greece, for the people do not 
claim to be " a society of angels," but only to be " like 
other people." But there is this difference. Greece, po- 
litically, is poor ; not literally, but comparatively, clad in 
rags ; and is easily pierced by the pigmy straws of her 
own and foreign manufacture. In the other nations the 
" gowns and furred robes hide all.'' I am persuaded that 
few acts of political iniquity lie concealed. If the office- 
holder, with a salary of a thousand or fifteen hundred 
dollars, thinks to double it by some hocus-pocus known 
to experts, or by actually slipping his hand in the public 
treasury, he thinks twice before attempting it, far the 
chances of exposure are a hundred to one. Every office 
is surrounded by hungry, eager eyes, watching for the 
stool that the first may fall from. Besides this, a pubhc 
official in Athens, be he the humblest clerk, walks be- 
tween masked batteries of political journals, any one of 
which wall hit him if it can, the instan-t he exposes his 
vulnerable point. I am persuaded that the Greeks 
themselves are accountable for much of the prejudice 
against them. The politicians ferret out every conceivable 
and many inconceivable crimes, and the twenty-five or 
thirty journals of Athens do not -let it die for want of cir- 
culation. The great proportion of political sinning is fab- 
ricated by partisan scribblers, and it may be safely said 
that much of that which has foundation is exaggerated, 
and much of that which is not exaggerated has no foun- 
dation in fact. There is little peculation, and less ve- 



96 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY.- 

nality. Favoritism and nepotism are frequent charges 
against the ministers. " To the dctors belong the 
spoils/' is a motto which originated out of Greece, how- 
ever often it is adopted in the kingdom. 

The pay of the Greek office-holder is so miserably- 
small, that a clerk in an ordinary commercial house in 
America would reject it. Neither do I believe that, as a 
rule, political men at Athens make a drachma out of 
their position. They are mostly poor men ; and those 
who hold landed property have it mostly under a heavy 
mortgage, and are in debt. Of the four political leaders 
of to-day, two are in the receipt of comfortable incomes 
from family inheritance ; the other two are notably poor. 
The pay of a Greek minister is a thousand drachmas a 
month — say two thousand dollars a year — and the pay of 
the member of Parliament is less than three hundred 
and fifty dollars for the session. These salaries do not 
seem to offer much inducement to take office. It may 
be argued that, for this reason, no one would take office 
but for pecuniary advantages incident thereto. But if 
men feathered their nests in this way, the fact would 
certainly in some instances transpire. On the contrary, 
we find them going out of office as poor or poorer than 
when they went in ; and I know of cases where m.en who 
have repeatedly filled high and responsible positions in 
the state, have depended for their future support on pri- 
vate charity. I think, therefore, that the general charge 
of " peculation," or " misappropriation " — or by whatever 
name pecuniary dishonesty is called — in Greece, may be 



POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. ^y 

allowed to fall to the ground. A recently published ar- 
ticle asserts that " places are made subservient to party 
success as distinguished from the public advantage ; and 
dishonest gains in office are winked at or shared, on the 
plea of party necessity or interest." I should be sorry 
to have any Greek read this, because the author of the 
statement is an American, Jacob D. Cox, and the sub- 
ject on which he writes is the civil service, not of Greece, 
but of the United States ! 

The love of power is the secret loadstone which 
draws the Greek politician up, up, into the highest office 
he can reach, and which gives him contentment therein, 
even when he feels that the prize may have to be relin- 
quished within a brief period of months. When he gets 
into office he distributes his patronage to pay his fol- 
lowers for helping him to it, or keeping him in ; and 
however objectionable this process is, and injurious in 
principle and practice to the cause of free institutions, 
it has to be endured, as we at home endure the specta- 
cle of a new President, with fifty thousand offices in his 
gift- — "the greatest patronage enjoyed by any ruler in 
the world — putting the whole machinery of this patron- 
age into operation for political purposes." 

Egotism, rather than depravity in morals, is the 
charge to be brought against Greek statesmen ; and the 
reformer might as well attempt to rub out of the Eng- 
lishman, Frenchman, or i^merican, his darling idea of 
self-superiority, as to erase this idiosyncrasy from the 
mind of the Greek. 
5 



98 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



Greece is the freest of constitutional monarchies. 
Her sovereign was called to the throne by the voice of 
the people. His subjects are equal before the law, and 
there are no titles of nobility or distinction. The liber- 
ty of the individual and his house is inviolable. Trial 
by jury is maintained. The press is free, and is allowed 
to be the vehicle of any and every opinion not contrary 
to the religion of the state or against the person of the 
King. Suffrage is universal. Members of the Cham- 
ber of Deputies represent the nation as well as the 
province which elects them. Cabinet ministers take 
part in the deliberations of the Chamber, and under 
certain circumstances can be brought to trial by the 
Chamber before a special court convened for that pur- 
pose. The number of deputies from each district is 
fixed in proportion to its inhabitants ; and the whole 
number can never be less than one hundred and fifty. 
Thus in Athens, with a population of fifty thousand, 
the number elected is six. The system of universal 
suffrage will become more and more successful, as 
the people learn to be more self-reliant and inde- 
pendent of arbitration of placemen. It is a safety- 
valve to the passions of the people, and is in har- 
mony with the principles of liberal government. In 
Athens perfect tranquillity prevails at elections, but 
in some of the provinces the presence of troops is re- 
quired to maintain order ; and it not unfrequently oc- 
curs that affrays, with loss of life, take place in closely 
contested districts. The system employed at elec- 



POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 99 

tions in Greece is that of " secret ballot ; '* and as the 
adoption of this system in England has been a question 
before Parliament, it may not be uninteresting to dwell 
for a moment upon the peculiar mode in vogue in Greece. 
Each candidate has a separate ballot-box upon which 
his name is inscribed. These boxes are ranged in a line 
across the body of the communal church, where the elec- 
tions take place, and are elevated to the height of the 
breast of the voter. Behind each box, on a raised bench, 
sits a friend of each candidate, to challenge, if neces- 
sary, the right of the voter. Registers are stationed 
near the door of the church to check from the printed 
Hsts the name of each voter as he receives his ballo.t. 
Thus far the modus operandi does not materially differ 
from our own, except that a separate box is assigned to 
each candidate. But the boxes are peculiar, and may 
furnish a hint upon which a less objectionable plan than 
our own might be adopted. The glass box in vogue in 
the United States was formerly employed in Greece, but 
is now rejected. The receptacle for the ballot is a square 
tin box, with a ridged roof, in shape not unlike that of 
a small dog kennel, from which projects longitudinally 
about a foot of pipe of the diameter of a stove funneL 
Into this funnel the voter inserts his arm, having first re- 
ceived from the attendant a small lead or iron bullet. 
The ballot-box is divided interiorly into two partitions, 
and the box is painted externally white and black, to 
correspond with these divisions — white signifying yea, 
and black 7tay, The name of the candidate inscribed 



loo THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

on the ballot-box is distinctly announced, and the 
voter, whose hand is concealed, drops his bullet by a 
simple movement of the wrist into the yea or nay parti- 
tion as he elects. The ball falls noiselessly, and the voter 
withdraws his hand without the possibility of his vote 
being known to the observers. This process he repeats 
until he has voted for each candidate. The process is 
lengthy, but the time allowed for elections, extending 
over several days, prevents undue excitement or eager 
haste. It is difficult to conceive of a mode in principle 
better calculated to protect the independent action of 
the voter, and to secure immunity from fraud. 

Unlike our own elections, where the announcement 
of the elected candidate is like oil on the waters of 
clamor and the effervescence of parties, the defeated 
candidates in Greece retire from the open field only to 
unite to get their opponents ousted on the first con- 
venient opportunity. 

When a new cabinet is called into power by the sov- 
ereign, criticism sharpens its pen almost before the 
Prime Minister can take his oath of office. Every act, 
and many acts not even contemplated, are animadverted 
upon by a merciless press, while charges of " favorit- 
ism," or "nepotism," or what not, are hurled at the 
ministry after each displacement in office, and a tiresome 
repetition of stale political eggs break upon the official 
linen, however immaculate it may be. There is little 
respect to persons in these attacks, but absolute scur- 
rility is rare. The press of Athens is much given to 



POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. loi 

rodomontade, but not to vulgarity. When the Prime 
Minister of England is spoken of at a public dinner 
presided over by an English earl as a ^^rnean and de- 
spicable toad," and as " the greatest knave and Jesuiti- 
cal political scoundrel the country had seen," it must be 
regarded as a very exceptional case, but it does not the 
less make it not surprising that in inferior organized 
communities occasional blackguardism should be re- 
sorted to by the pop-gun portion of the Athens press. 

When a Greek minister is well seated on the box of 
the governmental coach, he is not unapt to hold the 
reins with an arbitrary grasp, and usurp rather than 
exercise power, which is itself a recompense for the 
struggles and heart-burnings which it has cost him to 
obtain it. He is then comparatively indifferent to the 
criticisms of the by-standers, and if any impetuous op- 
ponent gets in his way, will perhaps run over him with 
a nonchalajice strikingly in contrast with the deference 
with which he formerly hung upon popular favor. He 
sweeps away many ofi&ces held by political opponents, 
on the plea of " public economy," and he creates posts 
on the plea of "public necessity." He makes honest 
professions of reform in administration, which he finds 
it impossible to carry out, chiefly from the short term 
that he holds office, and he makes promises of political 
preferment to his friends, which are not always fulfilled. 
He soon finds his seat slipping from under him and his 
popularity oozing away ; and when he falls, it is to give 
place to an opponent who will pursue pretty much the 



I02 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

same political course, and meet with the same political 
fortune. To retain popularity in office for any length 
of time, is an impossibility with a Greek statesman ; for 
no matter how pure his motives, how earned his en- 
deavors to steer the ship of state past the breakejs and 
into a safe haven, he will find public sentiment pressing 
for his removal or a change of ministry, if for no other 
reason, because he has been too long in office. It is 
only when the minister returns to private life that his 
accusers cease accusing, because they are then busy 
with the new incumbent ; or, what is not unlikely, the ex- 
minister will for the first time read flattering encomiums 
upon his late honorable and successful administration, 
and learn that a man must first be politically dead if he 
wishes to read his own epitaph. Thus, almost by rota- 
vtion, the three or four parties, or, more properly speak- 
ing, personal cliques, rise and fall in Athens on the 
ever restless surges of an apparently idle but active 
population, a great proportion of which is composed of 
office-holders or office-seekers. I say personal cliques 
rather than parties, because, properly speaking, there 
are no important principles or distinctions to mark these 
separate organizations. Each political leader is sur- 
rounded by a greater or less number of followers, flat- 
terers, or champions, as the case may be, whose chief 
inducement to political devotion is political reward. 
This condition finds a parallel in all countries, but the 
distinction there is that the majority instead of the 
minority of citizens in the capital are political game- 



POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 103 

sters. They play the same cards and win the same 
"honors/' but if they lose, they are themselves lost 
until ^the next change of fortune, and wander about 
with empty pockets, not knowing where to replenish 
them, except by a recourse to the same exhaustive pas- 
sion. But disappointment rarely reduces the energies 
of the political aspirant. By dint of much floundering 
in that uncertain sea, he sometimes makes a great wave, 
and rises on it ; and when the spectator supposes that 
he is on the point of being overwhelmed, he is on the 
point of being saved. The Greek is an excellent 
swimmer, whether buffeting the brine at the sea-baths 
of Phalerum or sporting in the more shallow waters of 
politics within the capital. 

By instinct the people of Greece are democratic, by 
circumstances they are royalists. Theoretically consid- 
ered, they would appear to be peculiarly adapted for a 
republican form of government ; but the failure of the 
experiment under Capodistria (who was assassinated for 
his supposed intrigues with Russia) and the exceptional 
condition which Greece holds toward the rest of Europe, 
and especially toward the three protecting powers, make 
her existing form of government such as commends 
itself to the majority of the governed. The Greeks 
are, therefore, loyal to the throne, they respect the per- 
son of the king, and are faithful to the constitution and 
the laws. While local politics are the never-ceasing topic 
of discussion throughout the kingdom, national politics 
are the active and vital topic of discussion in the capital. 



I04 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

There, every shade of opinion prevails, and every idea 
short of revolution and anarchy is propagated, and finds 
supporters. There are those who would maintain the 
present constitution as a faultless instrument ; those 
who would amend* it, and those who would do away 
with it altogether. There are those who, believing in 
the fiction that the sovereign can do no wrong, w^ould 
give the king more political power ; and there are those 
who, believing the sovereign can do wrong, would reduce 
him to a puppet. Some would take away all responsi- 
bility from the sovereign and place it in the hands of 
the ministry ; and some would absolve the ministry from 
all responsibility and fix it upon the sovereign. Some 
would increase the royal prerogatives, add another mil- 
lion to the king's civil list, surround him with the 
pageantry of a mounted guard, and further restrict 
accessibility to the royal presence. The openly avowed 
democrat, on the other hand, would cut down the pres- 
ent income of the king, abolish the court, have his 
majesty live as the "first gentleman of Athens" in a 
private dwelling, and reduce the number of horses in 
the royal stables from forty to four. It may be thought 
that in the midst of such conflicting opinions, and the 
never-ceasing antagonisms of political parties and poli- 
tical complaints, the throne of Greece is a bed of 
thorns. But King George is self-reliant, independent 
in views and action, and without that personal ambition 
which is regardless of the steps it takes to its accom- 
phshment. He feels the popular pulse, and tries to 



POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 105 

keep time with it, not more as a matter of policy than 
from national sympathy. But the position of a sovereign 
of Greece is not an enviable position, because from the 
peculiar character and condition of the people, a sov- 
ereign who would be thoroughly satisfactory to the 
nation, must possess a combination of impossible quali- 
ties. The king the Greeks would have, should be a 
Greek king — an impossibility in itself, since there is no 
royal stock in the nation, and to place a man of the 
people on the throne, would be an anomaly insufferable 
to Europe, and fraught with imminent personal danger 
to his democratic majesty. Since, then, the sovereign 
can not have Greek blood in his veins, the nearest 
condition to it is that he shall become Greek by sympa- 
thy of language and ideas. This presupposes youth, 
since no transplanted stock can denationalize itself 
excepting through the slow process of time and growth. 
But the sovereign should possess the qualifications of a 
ruler. He should be a man of capacity, administrative 
talents, of political wisdom, resulting from his experi- 
ence in affairs of state. This condition is inconsistent 
with the period of youth. Herein lies one of the 
glaring defects of kingcraft j a defect exceeded only by 
the greater monstrosity of royal succession, whereby 
the child of a sovereign becomes invested with sover- 
eign attributes simply because he is the son of his 
father, without respect to fitness, mental and moral en- 
dowments, or the one quality of all qualities necessary 
to a ruler, personal solicitude for the honor of his 
5* 



lo6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

kingdom. Upon what principle of justice or of hu- 
manity such an individual, placed upon a perilous throne 
by the will of others, and often, too, before he is con- 
scious of his own will, should be held responsible for 
the evils of government, fails to appear from any de- 
ductions of reason. Yet the very men upon whom the 
real responsibility should rest for the results of an act 
which has no authority but that of traditional custom, 
are those who rid themselves of the ignominy of the 
political failure, and saddle the sins of maladministra- 
tion upon the shoulders of the only individual who 
really had nothing to do with the iniquity of the original 
proceeding. 

Thus in 1832 King Otho of Bavaria was placed upon 
the throne of Greece at the age of seventeen. An hon- 
est-hearted young man, but without intellectual strength. 
Dressed in the Greek fustinella, he endeavored to be 
Greek in spirit, but under his braided jacket his heart 
beat to foreign measures, and his ear inclined to foreign 
counsels. But for the quicker-witted Amelia, his follies 
would have worn out the patience of the people sooner 
than they did. Fortunately, the material progress of 
Greece made some advancement, chiefly owing to the 
Queen, in spite of the weakness and inexperience of 
the Sovereign. Forced at last to abdicate, the empty 
throne was offered by the Greeks to Prince Alfred of 
England, notwithstanding the clause in the protocol of 
the Protecting Powers which declared that the Govern- 
ment of Greece should not be confided to a prince cho- 



POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 107 

sen from among the reigning families of those States, 
who signed the treaty in 1827. But by this manifestation 
in favor of the Enghsh Prince, the honor of selecting a 
King fftr the Greeks was silently allotted to Great Brit- 
ain. It was Lord John Russell, it is said, who, when 
Prince Christian, the present King of Denmark, was 
in London attending the marriage of his daughter to the 
Prince of Wales, ^^ discovered the second son of Prince 
Christian in the uniform of a midshipman," and sug- 
gested hi-s name as the successor of Otho. 

The Danish Prince was accordingly elected by the 
National Assembly at Athens, and having changed his 
name from William to George, the heroic saint, whom 
the Hellenes delight to honor, was received into the 
kingdom with the same confidence, and ^proclaimed 
with the same Zetoes^ which thirty-three years before 
welcomed the unfortunate Otho. 

By a vote of the Greek National Assembly, a civil 
list of 1,200,000 drachmas was settled on the new Sov- 
ereign ; and each of the three Courts of France, Great 
Britain, and Russia relinquished, as a personal dotation 
to King George, four thousand pounds sterling a year 
out of the sums which the Greek treasury had engaged 
itself to pay annually to each of them out of the public 
debt. The King's income is, therefore, equal to two 
hundred and sixty thousand dollars. 

King George came to the throne at the age of eigh- 
teen, which was about the age of his predecessor, Otho, 
when he accepted the perils of the same position ; but 



lo8 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

the present King had the advantage of the experience 
of the former, and avoided the rocks on which the Ba- 
varian Prince went to pieces. King George brought no 
foreign retirbue to disgust the national sentiment, and 
absorb interests which should belong to the people 
themselves. He possesses mental capacity, which was 
not a distinguishing characteristic of Otho ; and he is 
without that perverseness of disposition which, when 
united to a weak mind, is sure to work mischief to the 
State. Better than all. King George' has surrounded 
the barren throne from which Otho was driven, with 
flowers of royalty, who, born in the Kingdom and em- 
bracing the religion of the Orthodox Oriental Church, 
can supply the throne with a sovereign as Hellenic as 
the Greeks can ever hope to obtain. King George has 
as good an opportunity as any prince ever had to gain 
the love of his people, and win for himself a name, by 
uniting with them heart and hand in ameliorating the 
kingdom. Unlike his predecessor, his hands are com- 
peratively free of the impediment of foreign ministerial 
counselors, who, struggling each for supremacy, united 
only in checking the political advancement of the king- 
dom. The present King is in large measure his own 
adviser ; he comprehends the chief wish of his subjects, 
which is that Greece shall govern Greece. Eight years' 
experience with this positive and individual people have, 
or should have, given his Majesty a pretty clear insight 
into their character; the necessity for that frank and 
entire confidence which opens the way to just apprecia- 



POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 109 

tions between the ruler and the ruled, invites confidence 
in return, and insures the safety of the State. The max- 
im that " the people are always right '' is a safer max- 
im for kings to assume than the reverse proposition ; 
and the only difficulty in the way of its applica- 
tion is how to test public opinion. Sovereigns may 
be deceived by those whom they consult, for advisers 
are not always disinterested. The old system of spies 
and intriguers is happily going out of practice as a sys- 
tem of political machinery which cannot be depended 
on, and which embarrasses instead of facilitates the 
working of government. But there are ways always 
open to the sagacious mind whereby the true may be 
detected from the false, and the current sentiment of 
communities be made famihar to the political student. 
One of the greatest monarchs in history owed his great- 
ness to the fact that he understood and sympathized 
with his people ; and the only way he understood them 
was by mingling with them in the garb of a workman. 
King George has no need to resort to this expedient : 
he has but to encourage the freest interchange of opin- 
ions with his subjects without respect to classes or con- 
ditions ; to go over his Kingdom, not in equipages of 
state, but as a private citizen, and examine for himself 
the deficiences and requirements of every branch of the * 
public service ; to give as much time and attention to 
conversation with a peasant as he would give to an in- 
terview with a foreign minister — in a word, to inform 
himself, not be informed, of the needs of his people, 



no THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

and with all the power of his royal prerogative insist on 
those reforms being made. King George is full of good 
intentions, and is not the political sluggard which those 
who look only at externals in Greece might possibly be 
led to suppose. But misapprehensions sometimes pre- 
vail concerning the King's position toward his people, 
and the personal influence which is supposed to be 
brought to bear upon his political actions. Men who do 
not know King George, and who obtain most of their 
ideas from the small political cliques in which they move, 
do injustice to their Sovereign. Anti-royalists are apt 
to invest the Sovereign with a personal character which 
is entirely foreign to that which he possesses. If the 
King was this, or if the King was that, a very different 
state of things would exist in Greece, think many wise 
and good subjects. These lament the days of Otho, or 
even hint that a second Capodistria is the one thing 
needful for Greece. I have seen some of these very 
men come out of the royal presence thoroughly trans- 
formed from political haters to royal lovers, simply from 
having come in contact with the frank and honest char- 
acter of their King. 

When the petulant school-boy cannot solve his math- 
ematical problem, he sometimes in his impatience 
lays the fault of his want of success upon the problem 
itself; or, when convinced that others before him have 
mastered the difficulty, he perhaps accuses his teacher 
of ignorance or willful intention to mislead him in his 
explanations. So when the problem of self-govern- 



POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. m 

ment, from its own inherent difficulties or from the in- 
experience of those who attempt to administer it, works 
badly, the discontented citizen abuses the constitution ; 
or if that presents no salient point of attack, puts all 
the responsibility of the failure upon the governing 
power. Neither the constitution nor the administrative 
power in Greece is free from defects. Perhaps to mod- 
ify the former would be to create greater obstacles to 
the free and potent influence of the principle it em- 
braces. The evils apparent to the most casual eye in 
the system of organization, may well attract and fasten 
the attention of the~ governed classes. These defects 
are prominent or concealed according to the* peculiar 
condition of the kingdom from time to time. With a 
popular leader at the head of the ministry, and no ex- 
ternal question to aggravate the public mind, the voice 
of complaint is hushed, and but little is heard of con- 
stitutional amendments or of the incapacity or improper 
exercise of power on the part of the ministry or the 
sovereign. Indeed, the sovereign is rarely attacked in 
an open manner. Innuendoes and charges against the 
"camarilla" or the "court" are frequent, and in the ma- 
jority of cases this means the sovereign. But the King 
is often as innocent of the charges thus carelessly made 
as are the men who make them. There isVo point in 
the royal target too sinall to attract the attention of 
newspaper marksmen, who, although they rarely aim at 
the bull's-eye, love dearly to hit its nearest rings, com- 
monly designated as the "camarilla." A majority of 



112 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

lonians in the perso7i7iel of the court, the proposed en- 
gagement of a Russian instead of a Greek chaplain 
for the queen, the suggestion of a mounted guard of 
honor for his majesty, too indjiy petites soirees or too few 
grandes balls at the palace, too rapid an increase of the 
royal family, too long a sojourn of their majesties at 
their favorite summer residence at Corfu, etc., etc., up 
to the graver sins of keeping an unpopular ministry too 
long in power, the dissolution of the national parliament 
to avoid a political crisis, etc., etc., pique the appetite 
of the ever-hungry journalist, and supply the staple of 
conversation to the idlers and political grumblers of the 
streets and cafes. This irritability of the public mind, 
especially at the capital, indicates the impoverishment 
of resources, the want of wholesome occupation, which 
in large commercial cities gives employment to classes 
which in Athens are reduced to petty journalism or to 
place-hunting. 

The real evils of Greek government are evils of ad- 
ministration, and the stifling system of centralization is 
its chief evil. Power should be diffused in Greece until 
each individual of each commune and village feels that 
the authoritative and executive power is responsible to 
him as one of the people, for the proper discharge of 
the functions of his office. Greece is a nation of poli- 
ticians without a party — of opinions without a public 
opinion. Not that party spirit and individual opinions 
do not largely prevail, and too often to the detriment of 
practical reforms, but that there is no concentration 



POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 113 

of grand principles, no unity of popular force, no pro- 
mulgation of public will. Men at Athens who should 
shape the country are too much engrossed in shaping 
their own fortunes j and the people of the country, by 
which I mean especially the country people, are indiffer- 
ent to politics so long as they are allowed peaceably to 
pursue their own livelihood. Such a thing as a public 
meeting in village, town, or city, composed of the work- 
ing or industrious classes, for the purpose of discussing 
or enforcing a public measure, is a spectacle never wit- 
nessed in Greece. Ideas are as thick as blackberries, 
but they are unwholesome, because never allowed to 
ripen to practical results. The people are the servants 
of the politicians, and do all the log-bearing, instead of 
the politicians being the devoted servants of the people. 
To the ignorance of the latter as to their own rights 
and own interests, is to be ascribed this apathy or indif- 
ference. When the maladministration of affairs or the 
pressure of untoward circumstances bring on one of 
those periodical crises so common at Athens, there is 
an immediate hunt for the scape-goat. Who is to blame ? 
And as there is generally some difficulty in finding the 
right individual, or party, or minister, each by turn is 
assailed with all the venom of the press. Too often 
the fault is laid, and not always incorrectly, upon for- 
eign interference ; but it generally ends in a lamentation 
at the impotence of poor truncated Greece (^La Grece 
limitrophe)^ which has been deprived of her natural her- 
itage, and confined to a limitation where poUtical.wis- 



114 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

dom and material progress cannot find their natural 
expansion. The Greeks should take a lesson out of 
Shakspeare : 

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars. 
But in ourselves^ that we are underlings." 

I would not advise the Greeks to do as Brutus did, lest 
they meet with Brutus's fate. It is not political revolution 
they require, but that silent, all-powerful, and all-per- 
vading moral revolution which shall propel the vessel of 
state by the breath of public opinion out of the shallow 
waters in which she now flounders, like a ship of war in 
a mill-pond, to the broad sea of national prosperity. 
The people of Greece need to be brought together by 
the influence of the press, the pulpit, and public debate, 
into one homogeneous society, whose end and aim should 
be the purification of the ballot-box, and the elevation 
and strengthening of an independent judiciary. When 
men are elected for their capacity and honesty, and not 
because of their local influence, and when the tribunal 
of justice is free from the faintest suspicion of political 
or personal taint, we shall hear less of the inability of 
the Greeks to govern themselves. 

With the press lies chiefly the power to create a public 
opinion, and make that public opinion eflective for good. 

One of the first steps that the press and the people 
should insist upon, is the breaking up of that system of 
bureaucracy which each government, as it comes into 
power seems to cherish as a political safeguard. It is 
in reality an iron wall separating the people at laige 



POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 115 

from their rightful authorization, and which is gradually 
closing up the channels of free government until its 
vitality is in danger. Official secrecy, carried to a ri- 
diculous extent in Greece, is another evil which demands 
the earnest attention of the press. The sooner all pub- 
lic proceedings — official correspondence on matters of 
public interest — and the statistics of each depart- 
ment of the government are placed before the peo- 
ple, the sooner will the people, and not their politi- 
cians, govern Greece. 

The Greeks must learn to make character the quali- 
fication for office — must learn to regard the privilege of 
suffrage as a holy and inestimable privilege, not to sub- 
serve personal, but the general welfare. They must 
insist upon economy in every branch of the public ser- 
vice, and cheerfully bear sacrifices until the national 
credit is established ; they must insist upon a greater 
exercise of courage in those who administer public af- 
fairs — courage to say " No " to partisan demands at 
home, and to unjust demands from abroad. I mean 
demands which would not be made by foreign powers 
to other powers of equal political strength to their own, 
and which no other government would grant if they 
were made. By such a course Greece will gain respect 
where now she suffers humiliation. - 

But if Greece requires to be counseled, so do her 
counselors. " All the evils which have afflicted Greece," 
says an intelligent British writer who has dwelt among 
the Greeks for years, " may be attributed to the mistakes 



Il6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

of British diplomacy." It is certainly true, as Count 
Nesselrode told England in 1850 in respect to the Eng- 
lish blockade of Athens, that the policy of that govern- 
ment toward Greece has too often been to " recognize 
toward the weak no other rule than her own will — no 
other right than her ow^n physical strength. " Greece has 
many and just grounds of complaint on this score of 
arbitrary treatment from a power which should have re- 
spected her rights as much as if she w^ere in a position 
to enforce them with armies and fleets. The words of 
King George on one occasion to a certain foreign em- 
bassador contains the pith of the Greek demand of to- 
day : " Do you recognize Greece as a kingdom ? Well, 
then, treat her as such." 

Greece has been brought into prominent position by 
the very abuse heaped upon her. The preposterous 
demands of foreign critics should flatter her self-esteem. 
Youngest of all the nations, she is upbraided for not 
possessing those qualities which in other nations are the 
growth of centuries. The broad sun of Greece, falling 
on her exposed soil, reveals every defect of nature ; and 
the peculiar transparency of the atmosphere, which 
causes her far-off mountains to be seemingly near, mag- 
nifies political misfortunes to political iniquities. 
Greece has to bear this in addition to the evils for which 
she herself is plainly responsible. This makes her task 
of self-government a hard one ; but the more honora- 
ble, the more distinguished among nations will she be, 
if she accomphshes her task. 



"THE GREAT IDEA." 




"THE GREAT IDEA." 

llREECE has many sins to answer for in the 
eyes of Europe — sins of omission and sins 
of commission — but above all rises one 
mountain of iniquity of such stupendous dimensions — 
'^ singeing its pate against the Torrid Zone" — as to 
diminish the " Ossas " of brigandage, bankruptcy and 
political corruption to very warts. Brigandage is 
nothing to it, since the candid observer cannot but 
admit that the root of that evil is not wholly indigenous, 
and that the government does really make some exer- 
tions to repress it. It is worse than being in arrears 
for debt, for people are sometimes excusable for not 
paying what they owe, especially when they have nothing 
wherewith to pay it. It is not to be compared with poli- 
tical corruption, because Cowper told his countrymen 
long ago that 

The age of virtuous politics is pas"t : 
Patriots are grown too shrewd to be sincere, 
And we too wise to trust them. 

So Greece can hardly be considered as setting the world 
at defiance in that regard. The sin of sins that I refer 
to, and which excites the irony, if not the indignation, 



I20 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

of the critics of Greece, is called " La Grande Idee." 
This " Great Idea " is a component part of the Greek 
brain and the Greek heart. It permeates all classes of 
society — the toothless baby draws it in with the maternal 
milk, and the toothless mouth of age pledges to it in 
long drafts of the native resined wine. The shepherd 
dreams of it in the cold mountain air under his shaggy 
sheepskin, and the rich proprietor traces it in the grace- 
ful smoke-cloud of the incessant cigarette, and perhaps 
wonders if it is not quite as evanescent. If I treat the 
subject in a poetical way, it is because the subject itself 
pertains more to the realms of fancy than of fact. 

Briefly defined, the Great Idea means that the Greek 
mind is to regenerate the East — that it is the destiny of 
Hellenism to Hellenize that vast stretch of territory 
which by natural laws the Greeks believe to be theirs, 
and which is chiefly inhabited by people claiming to be 
descended from Hellenic stock, professing the Orthodox 
or Greek faith, or speaking the Greek language. These 
in the aggregate vastly outnumber the people of Greece 
proper, and are regarded by " Free Greece " as brethren 
held in servitude by an alien and detested power. 
There are in European Turkey and its territories not 
far from fifteen millions of people, of which number 
less than four millions are Ottomans. The rest are 
Slavonians, Greeks, Albanians, Wallachians, etc., who 
profess the Greek religion or speak the Greek dialect ; 
and although in morals and character these are far 
below the independent and educated Greeks of Athens 



"THE GREAT IDEA." 12 1 

and the chief towns of Greece, this inferiority may 
doubtless be largely ascribed to the political restraints 
still pressing upon them. The Greek in Turkey 
does the work and receives the money. He vitalizes 
the sluggish mass around him, but is quite as unscru- 
pulous as his masters. How can it be otherwise when 
he possesses all the characteristics of a conquered race ? 
"At sight of a Mussulman," says an intelligent ob- 
server, "the rayalVs back bends to the ground, his 
hands involuntarily join on his breast, his lips compose 
themselves to a smile ; but under this conventional 
mask you see the hatred instilled even into women and 
children toward their ancient oppressors." 

If this be the prevailing sentiment of the Greek 
population in Turkey, it may well be asked. Why, with 
corresponding influences at work in the Hellenic king- 
dom, cannot the Great Idea be made to bear practical 
fruits ? With the elements of revolution, why is there 
no revolution ? With the general desire of the people 
for unity and territorial grandeur, why does the prospect 
of political and national amalgamation grow more and 
more illusory, and the shores of the Bosphorus and the 
minarets of Constantinople (as the ideal capital of the 
Hellenic kingdom) recede farther and farther into the 
landscape, like the mirage of cities and of fountains 
mocking the wearied eyes and parched lips of the trav- 
eller in desert lands? There are many reasons, of 
which a few only need be cited. Greece has no organ- 
ization of forces sufficient to make the first attempt to 



122 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

deliver her countrymen. Occasional spasmodic move- 
ments in Epirus and Thessaly have only resulted in 
defeat and disgrace. A large proportion of the Greeks 
under Turkish rule, especially those who ar6 place- 
holders and those who are engaged in gainful commer- 
cial pursuits, prefer the proverb, " Let well alone," to 
that of " Nothing venture, nothing have." They dis- 
trust the result of revolutionary movements, and the 
political restraints of King George's kingdom do not 
tempt them to change the temporal advantages of their 
present position for the chances of prospective inde- 
pendence, however golden with patriotism. 

The Greeks in Turkey breathe an atmosphere of 
political and social impurity, which pervades all classes, 
from the sultan's household to the lowest menial at the 
custom-house, and from which foreign subjects — even 
foreign ministers — have not always remained untainted. 
It is a habit with certain writers to charge the Hellenic 
population in Turkey with the creation of this miasma 
of immorality and vice ; but the truth is, they only avail 
themselves of the existing laxity in all departments of 
the public service, and in all the circles of social exist- 
ence, and by their extraordinary mental vitality and 
shrewdness, turn the general debasement to their own 
advantage. When the Turks found themselves masters 
of Constantinople, they discovered that nothing was 
wanting to their maintenance of power but one thing, 
and that one thing was brains. The faculties of percep- 
tion and forethought, obtuse in themselves, were largely 



*'THE GREAT IDEA." 1 23 

developed in their Greek subjects, and so they were 
forced to take them for their pohtical and intellectual 
servants. The Greeks accepted the position. It was 
an arrangement founded on mutual interest, without 
mutual sympathy. Interest indisposes the Greeks in 
Turkey to stir up revolution, but the want of sympathy 
wdth the Mussulmans is as marked as ever. 

In Greece itself there is a divided sentiment as to 
the proper time for making another attempt to recover 
the liberties of the nation. Just now, with the bitter 
failure of Crete before their eyes, the conservatives are 
decidedly disinclined to waste money and strength in 
fresh agitations for the Great Idea, while every depart- 
ment of the state at home demands the most earnest 
and absorbing attention. The radicals, who at any 
time and under any circumstances, cost what it may, 
are eager to rush to the breach, and perish, if need be, 
for the cause of national unity, are in the minority, and 
expend their enthusiasm in newspaper appeals for their 
brethren " in chains," and in passing the watchword 
from mouth to mouth, "Greece for the Greeks"^ — "La 
regeneration de TOrient /^r I'Orient." 

But however divided public opinion in Greece may 
be as to the proper time and method for attempting the 
realization of the Hellenic Idea, the Idea itself never 
leaves the teeming brain of the Greek. He may, in 
his impatience, disgust or despair, denounce it as 
chimerical, and join in the laugh of scorn which its 
mention evokes from foreign nations; but at heart he 



124 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

Still cherishes it — if not as a practical possibility, as a 
tenet of his political and religious faith. It is sweet to 
believe that we are a " chosen race/' destined to carry 
the symbol of Christianity and the torch of civilization 
and freedom into the benighted realms of superstition 
and ignorance, even if circumstances prevent us from 
attempting the pilgrimage. Therefore, however much 
and often a Greek may say to you in private that his 
countrymen are wasting their energies in chasing a 
phantom, which might better be employed in studies of 
political economy at home, he would not dare to advise 
any one of them to abandon the Great Idea, nor does 
he himself believe that it should be abandoned. 

It is easy, therefore, to understand the scorn with 
which the advice of the other European powers on this 
head is received by Athenian statesmen. Very much 
the same feeling is evoked there by the efforts to tran- 
quilize Greece, and to make her satisfied with her pres- 
ent limitations — in a word, to preserve the status quo in ■ 
the East — as was experienced in the loyal States of our 
Union at the darkest and most discouraging period of 
the civil war, when we were appealed to to give up the 
futile attempt to restore " an impossible Union," and to 
consent to " a peaceful and happy separation ! " Nothing 
is so dark and discouraging in Greece as to shut out the 
forlorn hope — to steal from the public heart its belief in a 
special destiny — to utterly extinguish the coals of resur- 
rection which lie under mountains of ashes and debris. 
The very ruins of the great Past appeal to them, or seem 



'THE GREAT IDEA." 



125 



to appeal to them, never to forget that what has been 
may yet be again. The modern Greek remembers — 
and is never tired of quoting — the words and examples 
of the dead heroes of the shadowy past, from Miltiades, 
Themistocles, and Demosthenes — as if they walked the 
streets of Athens but yesterday — down to their more 
legitimate forefathers of Greek independence— Miaoulis, 
Canaris, Botzaris, Colocotronis, and Ypsilanti. And 
those of the last category do, with some degree of rea- 
son, give color and vitality to the hopes of the future ; 
for the Greeks feel that what they did accomplish in the 
seven years' war, in spite of the indifference or scorn 
of the European world, justifies the belief that the end 
was not reached when Greece consented to lay down 
the sword and accept, at the hands of the great powers, 
a fragment of the heritage she expected ; relinquishing 
to her great enemy Crete, Rhodes, Samos, Chios, Thes- 
saly, Macedonia, and Epirus (Albania), the most fertile 
and most populous portion of her territory. To bid 
her forever give up her claim to these fair regions, peo- 
pled with " her own people,'' she holds to be a piece of 
diplomatic selfishness incompatible with the claims of a 
distinct nationality, if not of civilization itself. Atten- 
uated, poverty-stricken, a political pauper at the close 
of the revolution, yet possessing a certain shrewdness 
and wit which commanded the respect of those who 
had come forward in the character of " national guar- 
dians," Greece, who without their timely aid, would have 
sunk back into barbarism and obscurity, boldly demand- 



126 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

ed a larger share of the territory for which she had sac- 
rificed so much. Dissatisfied with the spoonful of po- 
litical broth, the Oliver Twist of nations had the un- 
blushing temerity " to ask for more." The plump bea- 
dles stood aghast ; then made a show of earnest consul- 
tation, which resulted in stamping the little upstart with 
the badge of deep-dyed ingratitude, and refused the 
second spoonful. The powers claim that they were 
right, and in justification of the partition of Greece, 
point to the small progress which the kingdom has made 
in material and political strength. Indeed, not a few 
assert that Greece, as a self-governing nation, is a " com- 
plete failure." The Greeks do not deny that the ad- 
vancement of their country has been slow and feeble, 
but assign as a chief reason the contracted limits of the 
kingdom. England says to the Greeks, " If you cannot 
govern what you possess, how can you hope to persuade 
Europe that you are capable of governing a larger 
kingdom ?" To which the Greeks wittily reply : " Your 
reasoning produces the same effect on us as if you said 
to a lame man, ^ Since you cannot walk with the leg 
which you have still left to you, do not regret the loss 
of the other : you would not know how to use it if you 
had it. ' " 

But the question is not what Greece might do in the 
way of progress and reform if she had more resources 
in fertile lands, more hands to work with and more 
room to work in, so much as the abstract question of 
national rights. Is she to be denounced for having an 



"THE GREAT IDEA." 1 27 

Idea ? Even if the Idea is not presently practicable, is 
it not per se, a natural, inevitable and wholesome Idea ? 
If the Greek nation stood alone in this respect, if na- 
tional aggrandizement and unity were an original con- 
ception of the Greek mind, the political student might 
well think twice before endorsing a proposition born of 
no precedent — an ideal form assuming the shape of wis- 
dom, and springing self-made out of the brain of an 
ideal Jove. But it is not original. Other nations have 
Great Ideas, and rather pride themselves upon the fact. 
England^ the chief adviser of Greece, had an Idea of 
commercial supremacy ; and by force of her maritime 
position, strong armies, and the cold-compelled indus- 
try of h^T dense population, has been pretty successful 
in giving it practical illustration. France had an Idea, 
and has not unfrequently nourished and fed it at the ex- 
pense of other nations ; and would have succeeded in 
her last ambitious designs but for collision with the 
greater and more carefully -matured Idea of Germ.an 
unity. Russia, the third "protector^' of Greece, has 
her Great Idea, and under the guidance of experience 
and clever statesmanship, is slowly and surely putting it 
into execution. The unification of Italy was an Idea 
which, when successful, won the applause of the world. 
In her case the union of one people under one govern- 
ment, which comprises within its territorial limits the 
entire length and breadth of the Itahan domain, is con- 
sidered the simple result of a fixed purpose and deter- 
mination of a people whose blood, language and relig- 



128 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

ion are the same. On this subject the leading journal 
of London made comment in language which, although 
not intended for them, might be read by the Greeks with 
hopeful satisfaction. ^' Such/' it remarks, referring to 
Italian unity, " is the tendency of our age to mature and 
accomplish things which men had long given up as im- 
possible, and which upon trial turn out to be natural, 
obvious, and inevitable." Our own boastful land, where 
"the whole boundless continent" is the limit of Aer 
Great Idea, is permitted to indulge in dreams of ag- 
grandizement without ridicule or reproach, because the 
wealth of her soil and the increasing numbers of her 
people seem to guarantee the ultimate fulfilment of the 
promise. Every nation, indeed, has dreams of glory 
which fail to arouse the wrath of the scoffer. Greece 
alone, exceptional in all things — the youngest, the poor- 
est, and perhaps the proudest of them all — is not per- 
mitted to indulge the hope that her own may one day 
gather around the flag they have sacrificed so much to 
uphold, without exciting the censure of her older, richer, 
and more powerful neighbors. 

The Greeks are perpetually told to abandon their 
little idiosyncrasies, and to come boldly up into the front 
rank of the nations. Especially are they told that the 
dream of empire is a terrible dream for a small state, 
and that nothing but self-sacrifice and the concentration 
of the public mind upon internal improvements can 
save them from decay and annihilation. So far, the ad- 
vice is sound, and the sooner this self-sacrifice begins — 



"THE GREAT IDEA." I2q 

although they look in vain for shining examples of it 
in the governing classes of Europe — the better will it 
be for them. But they will never abandon the Great 
Idea — never obey the bidding of the conservers of the 
status quo, and not make their sign — -openly if they can, 
secretly if tli^y must — to the millions of their country- 
men who are not free. It is unnatural to expect that 
Greece will act otherwise : it is morally and politically 
wrong to wish that she should. The wisest course for 
her advisers to take, is to cease to check her national 
aspirations. If these aspirations tend to disturb a line 
of policy which diplomacy has laid down for the pro- 
tection of certain material interests in the East, these 
interests should give way to the higher claims of hu- 
manity. 

I have ventured to hold the opinion that England 
would have consulted her own political interests in the 
East by actively promoting the Hellenic Idea. Not, by 
any means, in encouraging political intrigues or revolu- 
tionary agitations, so much in vogue there, but by giv- 
ing open countenance to the idea that the principle ot 
Greek nationality, enunciated by the war for independ- 
ence, in which she materially assisted, was a principle 
to be maintained until it reached fruition. Open en- 
couragement to the Great Idea, so long as its manifes- 
tation did not lead to belligerent movements, might by 
this time, as I shall attempt to show, have placed the 
territories now comprising European Turkey in a posi- 
tion of political strength and unity which at present 



I30 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



they can never hope to assume except under the gov- 
ernment of a stronger power. The moral forces of 
Hellenism are the only real strength it possesses, and* if 
properly directed by a sagacious power could achieve 
their mission — if mission they have — without the smell 
of gunpowder or gleam of a bayonet. Public opinion 
in great civilized nations like England is in most cases 
more powerful than war, because it averts and prevents 
war. There is now no compact, self-poised government 
on the shores of the ^gina or the Marmora. Let the 
three powers withdraw their protection from Greece, 
and at the first collision of forces that little kingdom is 
swallowed up by the Turkish empire ; or, what is perhaps 
worse, enters again upon a prolonged conflict which 
would leave her distracted and undone. Let the three 
powers withdraw their protection from Turkey, and her 
great northern adversary will avail herself of the first 
opportunity to carry out what is popularly held to be 
her "traditional policy." Whether this "policy" is 
destined under any circumstances to be realized, or 
w^iether, if realized, the Eastern question would be solved 
in the most satisfactory way and to the benefit of East- 
ern Europe, is not the subject of present discussion. 
It is very certain that the existing condition of things 
in that quarter of the world is not a condition which 
possesses any qualities of permanence, and is the 
cause of incessant watchfulness and anxiety. As has 
been forcibly said by an English writer, " counting by 
individuals, the Greeks in European Turkey are to the 



**THE GREAT IDEA." 13I 

Turks as six to one; but estimating them by their 
wealth, they are as thirty to one." There is something 
not only unnatural but appaUing to Christian eyes, in 
the fact that a handful of Mussulmans, without a single 
drop of sympathetic blood for the people they govern— 
aliens in race, religion, manners, customs and language 
— should come over into Europe and hold control over 
six times their number belonging to a different race. It 
is one of those anomalies of which history furnishes other 
examples, but at which human nature must ever revolt. 
I am not, however, of the number of those who 
would allow sentimental abstractions to interfere with 
the obvious claims of an established government over a 
people fairly conquered by the force of arms. Neither 
do I think that the cause of public justice can be sub- 
served by joining in the cry against the Turk because 
the character of the Mussulman differs in essential par- 
ticulars from the character of the Christian. One of 
the great shining stars in the firmament of human re- 
generation is that of religious toleration. Brighter and 
clearer it gleams from the obscuration of centuries. As 
the worship of paganism was as pure in its nature as 
the condition of the world then permitted, and has sent 
down through the eras of Christianity lessons of fervor, 
devotion and self-sacrifice which the world may well 
imitate in its more enlightened worship, so is the faith 
of the Mohammedan illustrated by many holy observ- 
ances and much practical virtue, which should shame 
the laxity in morals and superficial worship too often 



132 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

observable in Christian society. The intolerance, lust 
and barbarous inhumanity of the Turks have been a 
theme of reproach with Christians for ages, but the con- 
flict between the Cross and the Crescent can only re- 
sult in perfect triumph to the former when the image of 
Christianity is upheld by forbearing hands, and not 
wielded as an implement of battle. In spite of the an- 
tipathy between Christianity and Mohammedanism, the 
world must admit that enlightened views of public poli- 
cy and sterling reforms have crept into and influenced 
the government of the sultan. It is not, therefore, in 
any anti-Turkish spirit that I allude to the anomalous 
condition of the Greeks in Turkey. But inasmuch as 
the condition is anomalous, unnatural and practically 
unwholesome, and moreover is a condition which it is 
impossible to regard as permanent, it may be well to 
consider what measures might have contributed to ame- 
liorate it. 

The principle upon which the Western powers have 
governed Greece since her independence of the Turkish 
power, has been that which Pitt declared in 1792 to be 
" the true doctrine of balance of power " — to wit, that 
the power of Russia should not be allowed to increase, 
nor that of Turkey to decline. After the battle of Nav- 
arino, Wellington, the demigod of Englishmen, who had 
pronounced that victory an " untoward event," was for 
making Greece " wholly dependent upon Turkey." This 
idea was supported by Lord Londonderry, who wished 
to render Greece " as harmless as possible, and to make 



'THE GREAT IDEA." 



133 



her people like the spiritless nations of Hindostan.'' 
These views seem to have prevailed in effect over the 
liberal ideas of Palmerston, who desired to see Greece 
as independent of Turkey as possible. 

Governments cannot serve two opposing principles 
at one arid the same time. Turkey the conservative and 
Greece the radical could not be petted and encouraged 
by the same hands. Hence, Greece was sacrificed that 
Turkey might prosper and grow fat. A policy of per- 
petual repression has been applied to a perpetually ex- 
panding national sentiment. This is why European 
ministers in Greece have been constantly employed to 
shake the finger in the face of public opinion when ex- 
ternal measures are discussed, and to lay the finger on 
when any actual demonstration threatens to disturb or 
revive the Eastern question. That question, which no 
statesmanship or wars have beea able to solve, stands 
to-day, in spite of the intrigues of politicians, the waste 
of millions of money, and thousands of lives, as huge a 
note of interrogation to the people of Europe, as when 
it first reared its sinuous sign over the unsettled and dis- 
satisfied populations of the East. A policy of force and 
of expedients by turn, has utterly failed to change the 
real relations of the East with the West, or of the Greeks 
with the people who hold the majority of that nation in 
political servitude. 

If a contrary policy had been adopted, if the Chris 
tian Greeks under the banner of the Great Idea — how- 
ever imperfectly that Idea had been expounded — had 



134 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

succeeded only in establishing a government as good as 
that of Abd-ul-Azis, there would to-day have been a 
community of interests which would certainly seem a 
better guarantee to political safety than now exists. If 
England and France had crowned the glorious work at 
Navarino with a declaration that the territorial limits 
which diplomacy assigned to the new kingdom of Greece 
must not be regarded as final ; that the principle ac- 
knowledged in the treaty of peace between Turkey and 
Greece extended over and embraced the whole nation- 
ality which had contributed by valor and sacrifices to 
achieve its independence ; and that to a peaceful con- 
solidation of this Idea, the powers pledged to Greece an 
unflinching moral support, the Eastern question might 
long ago have been solved by the peaceful acquiescence 
of the Moslem minority in the just claims of a vast 
Christian population, supported by the public opinion 
of civilized Europe. I venture to believe that if Eng- 
land and France had openly encouraged the aspirations 
of the Greeks as a national right, the Mohammedan 
subjects of the Porte would gradually have recrossed 
the Bosphorus to the land which is less disputably theirs 
by right of nativity and population. The feeble few 
who might have remained would have had no influence 
on the political condition, and with the death of the last 
Sultan an easy transition from Mohammedan to Chris- 
tian rule would have ensued. The Greeks in European 
Turkey and its tributary States may be even now regard- 
ed as virtually masters of the situation by their superi- 



"THE GREAT IDEA.'' 



135 



ority in intelligence, enterprise and wealth ; buit they lack 
cohesion, and are demoralized by the yoke they bear, 
which could not be imposed but by the aid of foreign 
diplomacy and foreign money. If as much eagerness 
had been evinced by England to support the Great 
Idea, as she has shown to scoff it ; if a fraction of the 
capital loaned to Turkey to increase her armament, 
build sultans' palaces and keep up her meretricious dis- 
play of power,* had been advanced for the education 
and elevation of the mixed population of Christians in 
the provinces, a picture of civilization would to-day 
have replaced the wretched spectacle of a half-barbaric 
and half revolutionary people, who, without any confi- 
dence in the government they have, look forward to a 
political condition which has no promise of independ- 
ence or of unity. 

These views may appear chimerical, and it is per- 
haps the most idle of speculations to speculate on 
what might have been the condition of a people under 
other circumstances than those which exist. It is equal- 
ly unprofitable to forecast the future in an age when 
events precipitate themselves with a rapidity and char- 
acter which disprove the wisest horoscope and confound 
the political soothsayer. What we do know is, that the 
policy of Pitt, so tenaciously clung to by British states- 
men, has succeeded only in " bolstering up " an effete and 
corrupt government at the expense of Christian unity, 

* The present total debt of Turkey is estimated at $630,000,000. 



136 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

power and progress ; and that what might have been ac- 
compHshed during the half century since the dawn of 
Greek independence in consoHdating a nationaUty which 
would certainly have been as efficacious as is now the 
Turkish power in Europe, has left the " Eastern ques- 
tion " without any permanent solution. It is no longer 
a diplomatic secret that the statesmen of Western Eu- 
rope are preparing their minds to accept, sooner or 
later, what they are unable to provide against with a sub- 
stitute, and what they have sacrificed so much to avoid 
— namely, the Russian solution of the Eastern question. 
Whatever may be the fate of Greece with a change 
of neighbors, it can hardly be worse than it now is with 
hostility ever brewing between her and Turkey, and 
with no disinterested friend to look to for counsel. Rus- 
sia would at least bring to the provinces the sympathy 
of co-religionists j and it is probable that while a Russian 
princess shares the throne of Greece, the independence 
of that kingdom will be strengthened and assured by a 
large accession of wealth and by internal improvements. 
But Greece does not regard without apprehension even 
the friendly approaches of a power whose iron rule is not 
in harmony with those elastic ideas of popular liberty 
which are the essence of Greek nationality. Better, 
think they, is the rule of the Moslem, with the hope of 
unseating him at last by the slow but subtle operation 
of Hellenism, than the Muscovite, whose entrance into 
Constantinople might be the death-blow to national unity. 
Wliatever period of time may elapse before the earnest 



"THE GREAT IDEA." 137 

consideration of this subject may engage the pens of 
pubhcists, it is highly probable that the Eastern ques- 
tion, as a theme for political disputation, will give way 
to what the moralist at least will regard as the more mo- 
mentous question, namely : What will be the effect upon 
Hellenism of a change of political rulers in the east of 
Europe ? Will the banner of orthodox religion of the 
Eastern church, upheld among the people of the now 
Turko-European states in the political grasp of the 
" emperor of all the Russias," strengthen Hellenic na- 
tionality ? or will the Great Idea fade into vague and 
indeterminate forms, without even the semblance of the 
substance which it now possesses ? 



FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 




FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 

JN the 2 1 St of April, 187 1, the diplomatic 
body at Athens assisted at the celebration 
of the semi-centennial anniversary of Greek 
Independence. 

There was the inevitable Te Deum at the Cathedral ; 
a Reception by their Majesties at the Palace; the dec- 
oration of the streets, including a Triumphal Arch and 
a Column of Victory ; a military and civic procession, 
and in the evening a court ball and the illumination of 
the public buildings and foreign legations. 

The chief event of the day, however, was the pub- 
lic reception of the remains of the Patriarch Gregory, 
75ne of the first martyrs of the revolution, the King and 
Queen walking behind the catafalque in the procession, 
which accompanied the remains from the railway sta- 
tion to the Cathedral, a circuitous line of march which 
occupied over two hours. This, on a hot and dusty day 
in May, was no joke, as indeed their Majesties, by such 
extraordinary deference to public sentiment, did not in- 
tend that it should be. 

Gregory, the Greek Patriarch at Constantinople, be- 
ing suspected by the Turkish Government of ferment- 



142 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



ing the revolution, and aiding the enemies of the Porte, 
was seized one quiet Sabbath as he came out of church 
in his sacerdotal robes, and was hanged at the church 
door. There, after the Grand Vizier, "smoking his 
" narghila,''' had sufficiently contemplated the pleasing 
spectacle, the body was handed over to the Jews, who, 
after dragging it through the streets of Constantinople, 
flung it into the Bosphorus. From thence the mutilated 
body was rescued by a Greek vessel, and privately con- 
veyed to Odessa, where it received interment in the 
Russian Cathedral. When it occurred as a "happy 
thought " to the Greeks at Athens, to request the trans- 
lation of the Patriarch's remains to that city, the Rus- 
sian Government cheerfully assented ; but at this point 
an unlooked-for difficulty arose. The Porte objected to 
the passage of the Bosphorus by a Greek national ves- 
sel, and I am not divulging a secret in adding, that the 
marrow of the objection lay in the apprehension that a 
public display of this kind would kindle an enthusiasm 
among the Greek subjects of the Porte at Constantino- 
ple which might lead to unpleasant political demon- 
strations. Upon this, application was made to Austria 
for permission to pass the body of the Patriarch by the 
Danube. But the Austrian authorities, out of deference 
to the wishes of the Porte, did not favor this arrange- 
ment. Then Turkish diplomacy scratched its head and 
proposed an easy solution of the difficulty, which was 
nothing less than to steal the Greek thunder by apply- 
ing to the Russian Government for the Patriarch's re- 



FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 



143 



mains, promising to accord to them honorable inter- 
ment at Constantinople, in atonement for the infamous 
act of 182 1, which the Government attributed to an 
uncontrolable and lawless body of Janisaries. But 
this clever suggestion was made too late. Russia held 
that the Greek Government, having made a prior appli- 
cation, was entitled to be the recipients. Finally, the 
consequences of a refusal by the Porte to the passage 
of a Greek vessel wdth the hallowed remains of the 
Martyr, seemed to strike the Turkish Minister for For- 
eign Affairs as likely to provoke excitement in the Hel- 
lenic community, and a compromise was accordingly 
made, whereby a Greek merchant steamer was to per- 
form the service, without any display or delay while 
passing Constantinople. The matter being happily 
disposed of in this way, all unpleasant consequences 
were averted. This will give some idea of the tender- 
ness of political relations in the East. Thus the 
Greeks were able to render honors to the remains of 
one of the earliest and noblest martyrs of their inde- 
pendence on their semi-centennial anniversary. 

The day is not less suggestive to the Greek mind, of 
the times which tried their forefathers' souls, than it is 
to the observer of events there. It is impossible not to 
cast a hasty survey over these intermediate years and 
arrive at some estimate as to their results. 

The first blow for Greek independence was struck in 
April, 182 1. The fires of revolution had been kindled 
for many years, but the inflammatory materials were col- 



144 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



lected and dispersed with such secresy and vigilance — • 
the chief instruments being the orthodox clergy, who 
whispered of hope and freedom in the pauses of their 
prayers — that when the venerable Bishop of Patras 
raised and sanctified the banner of revolt, it was re- 
sponded to from every quarter of the Turkish dominion. 
The Porte heard the cry of battle with a smile of deri- 
sion. What were poorly armed and undisciplined 
Greeks to accomplish against the glittering phalanxes 
of the Sultan ? Europe heard it, and looked on with 
apathy at the hopelessness of the struggle. It was the 
United States which first responded, in the words of 
President Monroe, Webster, Clay, Everett, Dwight, 
Poinsett, and hundreds of lesser voices, to the resolu- 
tion of the Greek Senate at Calamata, which declared, 
*^that having deliberately resolved to live or die for 
freedom, they were drawn by an irresistible sympathy 
to the people of the United States." 

The assertion in Webster's great speech on Greece, 
that her " sacrifices and suffering ought to excite the 
sympathy of every liberal-minded man in Europe," was 
not supported by facts — at least during the early period 
of the conflict. The Greeks fought single-handed, 
with valor in their hearts, wretched flint locks in their 
hands, and dissensions in their midst. As a Greek 
historian puts it, ^^ David, scarcely armed with a sling, 
attacked the formidable Goliah." After a conflict cor- 
responding to that of our own seven-years', war, not 
only in duration, but in many of its hardships, England 



FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 14^ 

and France came to the aid of the wretched and worn 
out revolutionists, and, at the eleventh hour, by the 
naval battle of Navarino, accomplished the indepen- 
dence of a small portion of Greek territory. This 
result was unpremeditated, and Wellington pronounced 
it an " untoward event." Doubtless this is the opinion 
of many to this day ; but I will not believe that Glad- 
stone's nobler sentiment, uttered in Parliament in 1870, 
and in the face of the then humiliated Greek people, is 
not the prevailing sentiment of all sound and unpreju- 
diced English minds, namely, that " to crush Greece 
would be to strike a blow at the hopes of mankind." 

But, although the semi-centennial anniversary of 
Greek Independence has passed, fifty years of Greek 
autonomy have not yet passed. The disorders, and 
dispersions, and corruption of the revolution did not 
give place to any form of systematized order for many 
years subsequent to the conclusion of actual warfare. 
A career of self-government cannot be said to have 
been fairly inaugurated until the Greeks recovered from 
the terrible exhaustion of the seven-years' war, say in 
1830, when Greece was declared an independent State 
by the Protocol of London. Indeed, it w^as not until 
1835, when the seat of government was transferred 
from Nauplia to Athens — ^then a collection of miserable 
Turkish tenements — that much in the way of practical 
progress was attainable. Thirty-six years is the period, 
then, upon which the political critic should pass judg- 
ment. What, it may with propriety be asked, has 
.7 



146 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

Greece accomplished during these thirty-six years of 
pohtical autonomy ? 

I do not propose to review the work, or even to re- 
cord more than a handful of statistics. Although " fig- 
ures never lie/' they often deceive. The man who 
builds but one house in a life -time may have given 
stronger evidences in that achievement of the triumph 
of resolute faith over despair, than the builder of a 
city, although each may have begun his work without a 
penny in his pocket. The Greeks were worse than 
beggars when the seven-years' flood of the revolution 
rolled back and left them naked on the almost barren 
sands of the land they had fought so long to reach. 
Then they looked around them to behold but little in the 
way of resources within their reach, while the high, fer- 
tile plains of Thessaly and Epirus, which had formed 
the most significant portion of their land of promise, lay 
within sight, but cut ofi* from them by diplomacy, a worse 
enemy, because a more subtle one, than the Turk, whose 
might w^as visible and could be met hand to hand.* 

The Greeks were worse than beggars, because they 
had begged before, and disgusted the lenders by their 
inability to pay the interest. The first loan was con- 
tracted in London in the excitement of the Greek revo- 
lution, through the efforts of a few interested and disin- 
terested Philhellenes. Out of ;^2, 300,000 borrowed and 

* By the treaty between the Great Powers and the Porte in 1832, 
the boundary line was run from the Gulf of Volo along the chain of 
the Othrys to the Gulf of Arta. 



FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 147 

for which the whole Hellenic nation expected to be- 
come responsible and easily to pay off under a solid 
government of their own, but ;^924,8oo reached the 
Greeks, the loan having been negotiated '^' like a hope- 
less affair" at fifty-nine and fifty-five per cent. This 
sum was immediately expended in the purchase of ma- 
terials for carrying on the war, and when the war was 
ended but a little more than one-fifth of the people who 
had looked for freedom received it ; but a little more 
than a third of the territory fought for received it, and 
less than a million of people found themselves respon- 
sible for the payment of a debt which had been contracted 
by many millions. When Saint Denis was reported to 
have picked up his own head and walked several miles 
with it under his arm, the celebrated Ninon observed that 
the number of miles was nothing, it was only the first 
step that cost. Greece was worse off than Saint Denis 
for she had no legs left to walk off with. The head 
with its inventive energies was left, and the weak and 
wounded arms managed to pick up a scanty sustenance, 
and this, to her thinking, w^as, under the circumstances, 
miraculous enough. Much of the first loan was sub- 
sequently bought by Dutch speculators at five or six 
per cent, and might now be liquidated at a low rate 
but for subsequent loans — the outgrowth of the first.* 
The united debt of Greece amounts to-day to nearly 
$42,000,000. The revenue, according to the budget for 

* Negotiations are now on foot which promise the early extin- 
guishment of this debt. 



148 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

1870, amounted to $6,070,000 and the expenditure to 
$5,982,000. This was an exceptional year, as the reve- 
nue, owing to difficulties in collecting and negligence in 
enforcing the payment of taxes, shows an annual defi- 
cit of a million of dollars. Under such circumstances, 
the national debt stands a poor chance of redemption ; 
and Greece being excluded from the money markets of 
Europe, has an onerous work to support herself under 
the disadvantages of a small territory and sparse pop- 
ulation. About a fourth part of the population live by 
agricultural pursuits. Her merchant marine is active- 
ly engaged in the trade with Turkey and the ports of the 
Levantine which it largely controls. In these occupations 
lies her only material strength, and under circumstances 
of great discouragement J the poverty of her people — fee- 
ble resources — inexperience — the enervating influences 
of old customs and habits of thought, Greece has failed 
to fulfil the exaggerated and unreasonable expectations 
of the enthusiastic Philhellenes. But Greece has never- 
theless done much in the way of real progress. Briefly 
enumerated* she has, in these thirty-five or forty years 
of freedom, doubled her population and increased her 
revenues five hundred per cent. Eleven new cities 
have been founded on sites formerly deserted. More 
than forty towns, reduced to ruins by the war, have been 
rebuilt, restored to regular proportions^ and enlarged, 
presenting at present the aspect of prosperous and pro- 
gressive cities. Some roads have replaced the foot and 
* Report of Manitaky. 



FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 149 

saddle-paths which were the sole avenues of communi- 
cation under the Turks, and telegraphic communication 
extends over the kingdom. Eight or ten ports have 
been cleared, deepened, and opened to communication. 
Light houses and bridges have been erected. From 
four hundred and forty vessels, measuring 61,410 tons, 
her merchant fleet has increased to more than five thou- 
sand vessels of 330,000 tons. Nearly a hundred thou- 
sand vessels enter Greek ports yearly, of which more 
than three-quarters are engaged in the coasting trade. 
The united value of imports and exports exceeds twenty- 
five millions of dollars. Greece has five Chambers of 
Commerce, numerous insurance companies, and a na- 
tional bank, the associated capital of which exceeds 
eight millions of dollars. In 1830 the small dried grape 
of Corinth — of which the word " currant ^' is a corrup- 
tion, and which forms the chief article of export — sold at 
about $120 the ton. It now sells at from $20 to $30, 
wdiich indicates the enormous increase in the produc- 
tion of this one article of commerce, from about ten 
millions of pounds before the revolution, to about one 
hundred and fifty millions of pounds now. The vines 
have increased from 25,000 stremmes — a stremma being 
about a third of an English acre — to 700,000 ; the fig- 
trees from 50,000 to 30O5O00 ; the olives from 2,300,000 
to 7,500,000, and the value of the silk and cotton pro- 
duction shows also an increase. The population of the 
chief towns, at the last census, was : Athens, 48,000 ; 
Patras, 26,000; Syra, 20,000; and Zante, 20,000. The 



150 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

Army, newly organized in 1867, consists of 14,300 troops 
of the line, but every Greek is a soldier in the hour of • 
need. The Fleet is composed of a frigate of fifty guns ; 
two corvettes, together of forty-eight guns ; one side- 
wheel steamer of six guns ; six screw steamers, together 
of ten guns ; t\\^o new iron-clads ; and twenty-six smaller 
vessels and gunboats. 

It is difficult to obtain statistics in commercial or 
financial matters in Greece, owing to the laxity in all the 
administrative departments ; but enough has been given 
in figures to prove that in her material industry, Greece 
has accomplished something, and might accomplish 
more. The capacity of her people, at least, ought not 
to be questioned. " The absence both of national 
and individual genius is so marked in the modern 
Greek," says Viscount Strangford in his Posthumous Pa- 
pers^ " as actually to amount to a real ethnological char- 
acteristic." Some pages on, remembering the important 
and honorable position which the Greeks of London, 
Manchester, and Liverpool, occupy in the commercial 
community, the writer betrays himself thus : " When their 
(the Greeks') lot is cast among a practical people (mean- 
ing Englishmen) and ballasted with money bags, they 
are more brilliantly successful than Scotchmen, be- 
cause in addition to their shrewdness they have the 
genius that knows how to venture." Thus it would 
appear from the Viscount^s showing, that it is the- atmos- 
phere of the place which> developes the genius of the 
Greek, and that the Corn and Currant Markets of Mark 



FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 151 

and Mincing Lanes, Anglicise Hellenism into a sterling 
virtue. Ergo : if the granaries of the Turkish provinces 
could be transferred to the Kingdom of Greece, and a 
million and a half of people could consume and pay for 
the same quantity of dried currants that are now eaten 
in the puddings and cakes of thirty millions of Scottish 
subjects, the "ballast of money bags" would set the 
Greek Ship of State upright, and all would be clear sail- 
ing. The Greeks should erect the English plum-pud-, 
ding into a demi-god, and pour libations at its feet \ for 
to it they are indebted for much of their material pros- 
perity, and now that the onerous import duty in the 
United States on the Greek fruit is reduced, and direct 
exportations are largely increasing, our country may 
sensibly contribute to the commercial strength of Greece. 
Unfortunately, it is too true that to make his fortune the 
Greek must often leave his own country and seek it 
where money and men are more abundant than they are 
in that pinched up land. But all cannot do this, and it 
is more the misfortune than the fault of Greece, that she 
is so much of a consumer and so little of a producer. 

The agriculturalist in Greece plods on, a patient, 
ceaseless laborer for what, at its best, produces only a 
simple subsistence. He is temperate and frugal, and — 
not looking beyond his domestic resources — a tolerably 
happy man. He neither neglects his religious obser- 
vances nor his children's education ; and if he sits 
down to lament any thing, it is that his taxes are not 
lighter, his crops not more profitable, and his country 



152 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

only a fraction of that which he beUeves to be his by 
right of nationahty, reUgion, language, and hereditary 
claims. The Greek sailor, on the other hand, finds some 
compensation for his national afflictions in the buoy- 
ant bound of the billows beneath his staunch, well-laden 
little craft, with which he coasts his native shores or 
scours the waters of Turkey and its provinces, and 
brings home bags of drachmas for his cargoes of fruits 
and grains ; for he, too, although unhappily deprived of 
the golden atmosphere of London, has ^' the genius 
which knows how to venture.'' But w^hat becomes of 
that large body of young men, who with the pride of a 
somewhat higher birthright than the peasant or the sea- 
faring man, with the energy and ambition of youth, 
endowed with mental qualities wdiich, if profitably di- 
rected, would place them on a level with the best intel- 
lectual society of Europe, but without a shiUing in their 
pockets, have to make their way in the world ? The life 
of one such man will very nearly illustrate the life of 
many hundreds. He finds himself at an age when the 
pressure of existence begins to be felt, and the necessi- 
ty for self-support is painfully apparent, a helpless youth 
in his father's house. The household is respectably but 
barely held together by the over-taxed industry of his 
parent, who without the educational advantages w^hich 
the era of national independence has afforded to her 
children, digs the soil and trims his vines, or perhaps 
exists on the uncertain and meager salary of a public 
ofiice. With a natural love for learning, the son has at- 



FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 153 

tended the " gymnasia," and perhaps dreamed that in 
something better than the tillage of the soil ought to he 
his lot in life. But if, discarding books, he finds himself 
willing to resort to manual labor, the prospect is any- 
thing but cheering. The land is probably rented from 
the Government, and at best offers few resources for 
the large and growing up family which now manage to 
exist upon its produce. To go abroad and seek from a 
cold world — especially cold to one of his nationality — 
a position of usefulness, is like casting one's only shil- 
ling on the generosity of the gambling table, and prob- 
ably he has not the shilling to venture. There is busi- 
ness at home : many Commercial houses ennoble the 
cities of Athens, Patras, Syra, etc., but they have been 
of slow growth and have hundreds of applicants for the 
first vacancy which may occur in the poorest paid clerk- 
ships. He bows his head in despair with but a sin- 
gle forlorn hope. That hope is Athens. Surely, in the 
Capital of the Kingdom, bustling with politicians, law- 
yers, doctors, journalists, something must offer to a man, 
sensible of his own merits and ready to devote mind 
and body to the general or to the personal weal. To 
the Capital he manages to pay or beg his way, and there 
drifts, insensibly, perhaps, into the whirlpool of the 
University — where a thousand others, mostly like him- 
self, find a few years of something like happiness in the 
excited hum of social and political companionship, with 
the common object in view of mental culture. He at- 
tends the lectures on law, medicine, science, philosophy 

7* 



T54 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

and belles lettres — devouring knowledge — and, as a hun- 
gry child, ignorant of the world around it, sucks the 
nipple of the Alma Mater. He takes his books home 
to his little scantily furnished lodgings, and pores over 
them till his eyes ache and his shrunken stomach craves 
for something more substantial. At a cheap eating- 
house he satisfies his hunger with a few olives and bread, 
washed down with the resined wine of the country, 
which is barely sufficient to sustain him until the next 
repast. Probably he passes the evenings at a cafe — 
sitting for hours with three or four companions over a 
single cup of coffee and innumerable cigarettes, dis- 
cussing — what } The last opera ? — the scandal of the 
day ? — the lascivious life of cities ? It is more than 
probable that the conversation is earnest : it relates to 
the morning lecture at the University, or it discusses a 
classical problem ; or, what is sure to come in, and with 
more or less vehemence, before the evening is over — the 
political question which is that day the topic of the 
newspapers, or the subject of debate in the arena of 
Parliament. In their enthusiasm these political and 
literary roysterers heed not the passing hour, and still less 
heed the presence of the foreigner, who, if by chance 
" taking notes " of Athenian society, will be sure to put 
them down as a parcel of degenerate and drunken 
blackguards, fit representatives of the national life of 
Greece. But his university career comes at last to an 
end. The young man has arrived at the years of man- 
hood. Through unremitting labor of the brain and 



FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 155 

bodily self-denial, he obtains his degree, and finds him- 
self standing where several roads part, uncertain which 
of them to take. He is fit for the practice of the law, 
and is not without the ambition which takes delight in 
gazing upon one's own signboard as he goes into his 
office lined with the bound-up authorities of his craft. 
But the profession is full. The city of Athens may be 
proud of the legal talent which finds exercise at her 
various bars ; but to the few who gather the laurels and 
wear them in marble dwelling houses, there is a hope- 
less, swaying crowd, briefless, nameless, and a-hunger. 
The same may be said of every other profession. 
Thousands gather at the fountain, but the slender stream 
fills only the nearest pitchers, and that but slowly. Peo- 
ple cannot be all of them at loggerheads, or stretched on 
beds of sickness. There is one road — and an honora- 
ble one it is, too — which takes many of the graduates of 
the University, in spite of its uninviting aspect and poorly 
paid occupation. Our young man can, if he chooses, go 
where many of his fellows go, into the benighted provin- 
ces of Turkey and along the Danube, and open, or teach 
in, schools. The stream of the University at Athens 
meanders through the Greek provinces of Turkey, and 
gives to no small portion of them all the intellectual 
freshness and growth they possess. But one of the 
chief qualities of a teacher of youth is patience, and 
an absolute disregard to the claims of personal ambi- 
tion — qualities which are eminently the reverse of those 
which animate the average Greek mind. Penury may 



156 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

be endured; but patience and obscurity are incompati- 
ble with the activity of brain and national self-esteem, 
which characterize the modern Greek. The young man 
cannot ponder long at the angle of the professional roads, 
for his nature abhors mental immobihty. He who 
judges him as he saunters through the street or sits 
dreamily at the table of a cafe, judges him wrongly. 
The brain is working in some direction or other, how- 
ever passive may be the outward man. If the tongue 
is not tripping with volubility of speech, it is because 
no fellow tongue is by to challenge argument. There 
is but one other road, or rather highway, of occupation 
open to him; and down that he advances with the rush- 
ing crowd. The reading of newspapers, the gasconade 
of the cafe, the warmth of daily debate on public affairs 
in the corridore of the University, has already made him 
a political partisan. He has his favorite statesnaan, and 
enrolls himself in the ranks of the supporters or de- 
nouncers of the existing ministry. In a word, he be- 
comes an embryo politician, scribbles for the journals, 
and hangs around the camp of the Minister or ex -Min- 
ister from whom he hopes to catch, in time, a loaf or 
fish of party patronage. He knows that when it comes, 
it will barely support life for the brief period that the 
ministry hold ofhce, but he fills the interregnum with 
hopes which may shape themselves to realities to come. 
That first political crust is a magic portion. He dreams 
of one day becoming Prime Minister himself, when 
fame and a sense of personal power shall fill up the 



FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 157 

crevices of his physical necessities. If for a momcDthe 
reahzes the absolute barrenness of the occupation he 
has accepted for life, it is but for a moment, for he sees no 
other alternative. Thus Athens becomes surcharged 
with an element, for the most part unproductive and 
unwholesome to the body politic, and yet one which 
seems to result from natural causes, for which there is 
no immediate remedy. Let him who laments, as I do, 
that so much mental culture and absolute talent should 
be squandered in the political arena, where so seldom are 
seen the strength of self-sacrificing statesmanship, point 
out a practical remedy, that is not born of national self- 
experience, as sooner or later it must be born in Greece. 
As men look everywhere but to themselves to discover 
the majesty of the State, so the Greek, with his eager 
intellect and restless ambition, looks all around him for a 
sphere of development, unmindful that in his own arms 
and hands lie the germs of national prosperity. He 
does not believe in the " nobility of labor," nor is it to 
be wondered at in a country where, through generations 
of foreign domination, labor was but the synonym of 
servitude. 

The wants of the Kingdom are obvious — they lie 
open to the broad sun of Greece, and the simple travel- 
ler notes many of them before he has been ten miles 
out of Athens. One of the most tangible of weapons 
employed against the Greek, is the charge of neglecting 
to do that for the Kingdom which every other country 
regards as of the first necessity. Thus the want of com- 



158 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

moil roads to intersect the country — bring produce to 
market and encourage the growth of villages — and the 
want of railway communication between the cities, and 
connection with the chief lines of Central Europe, is so 
apparent, that the observer in Greece is filled with aston- 
ishment that a people having the ordinary intelligence to 
perceive what is for their own^chief interest, neglect the 
opening up of the country to the means of common in- 
tercourse. The need of roads has been a crying evil 
ever since the dawn of independence. The English- 
man, accustomed to roll over the magnificent macadam- 
ized highways of his own island, is particularly struck 
with the wretched saddle-paths which alone furnish 
communication for the tourist in many parts of the 
Peloponnesus, Acarnania and Attica. As to railways, the 
American feels that if he had the control of affairs there 
but for a single twelve-month, he would pierce the Isth- 
mus of Corinth, and inaugurate a system of railway 
communication which should connect Patras with the 
Capital, and turn the route of East India travel and 
traffic from Marseilles and Brindisi, to Athens and the 
Cape of Surinam ; while a northerly line should strike' 
the great avenues of Central Europe, and bring to 
Athens the traveller who now makes the detour of 
Constantinople and the Dardanelles. 

There are about two hundred miles of good highway 
in Greece proper. It is known .that in many parts the 
agriculturalist is indifferent to the matter, and this indif- 
ference is welcome to the coasting trader who now monop- 



FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 



159 



olizes much of the carrying trade which would otherwise 
be diverted from it." But this narrow and selfish policy 
would be overcome by larger considerations of public 
good, if the cost of laying well-constructed roads through 
the sparse populated districts did not continually offer 
an excuse for not appropriating out of a depleted treasu- 
ry, money which is required for pressing and nearer 
wants. Economy in all departments of the public ser- 
vice would leave annually a goodly sum which could 
hardly be better expended than in the construction of 
roads — but economy is one of the hard lessons difficult 
for a pohtical and consuming population hke Athens 
practically to enforce. The annual budget is an undis- 
ciplined charger, which throws those who attempt to ride 
it. The Army, Navy and Civil Service estimates might all 
be cut down — to the chagrin and perhaps destitution of 
many people it is true — and a sinking fund for public 
roads be established. Few of those who ask why there 
is no highway from this point to that in Greece, reflect 
upon the first cost of such a road and the subsequent 
cost to keep it in repair ; while the travel over it would 
hardly be sufficient to keep the weeds from concealing 
it for the greater part of the year. A series of well 
built roads with bridges, water courses, and other con- 
nections, would probably cost three thousand dollars per 
mile. The average density of population, exclusive of 
the Ionian Islands, is but fifty-eight inhabitants to the 
square mile. Only one-seventh of the area of Greece 
is under cultivation, and about one-quarter of the area 



l6o THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

fit for cultivation, not cultivated ; while about half the 
whole, consisting of forests, rocks, and marshes, is unfit 
for cultivation. We in the United States fell the forests, 
raise log houses and run good roads between them ; 
being persuaded by the natural richness and bounty of 
the soil, immense emigration, and value of labor, that 
every dollar expended will, in a brief space of years, 
return a hundred fold. Such incentives to the outlay of 
capital do not exist in the deserted portions of Greece. 
But in spite of all discouragements, roads should be 
built and extended throughout the length and breadth 
of the Kingdom, for they are the arteries of civilization. 
Every effort should be made in this direction, however 
far distant is the promise that public travel upon them 
will be commensurate with the cost of the undertaking. 
The national fleet, the increase of which is the object 
of every Greek's ambition, may well rest in abeyance until 
money has been found to place the country on a par 
v/ith other countries, so far as the simplest requirements 
of internal communication are concerned. 

As to railways, the Greeks have received a practical 
illustration of their advantage and pecuniary profit in 
the five miles of iron road which now connects Athens 
with the Piraeus. They have seen what well-directed 
capital can achieve, in spite of opposition and legal dif- 
ficulties, between two points which but a few years since 
seemed to them sufficiently well connected by a common 
road. With railway communication between Athens 
and the frontier, and thence with the great arteries of 



FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. i6i 

central Europe, — an event which cannot be long delayed, 
— not only the capital, but all Greece will receive a 
quickening impulse which ought long ago to have been 
imparted to it. The want of this communication in 
Greece is the more painfully apparent as the contiguous 
countries begin to advance under the magical influence 
of the railway system, now considered an essential ele- 
ment in the life of nations. All efforts, therefore which 
are made in this direction by Greeks or foreigners, 
should receive the hearty assistance of the Greek Gov- 
ernment and the material aid of the wealthy Greeks at 
home and abroad. If foreign capitalists will embark in 
these undertakings, they should be supported by liberal 
allotments of the public lands through which such rail- 
ways are laid, as is the case in the United States, where 
vast tracts, heretofore sterile and unproductive, are now 
building up the fortunes of speculators and agricultural- 
ists. But if Greece is behind older and wealthier na- 
tions in matters which require the employment of im- 
mense capital, it is manifestly unjust to weigh her in 
the balance without a make-weight for her natural dis- 
abilities. Invidious comparisons are often drawn be- 
tween the material progress of Greece and other coun- 
tries, especially Switzerland. But a moment's reflec- 
tion ought to show that the density of population, the 
central and highly favored geographical position, the 
strong working climate, the diffusion of enormous sums 
of money by pleasure tourists, and the long period of 
political freedom which she has enjoyed, are all immeas- 



i62 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

urably in favor of Switzerland. Onl}^ in her smallness 
of territory and in preponderance of mountains, she 
may present parallels to Greece, but her territory is oc- 
cupied half the year by foreigners, who spend more 
money for ^' Swiss carvings" in a single day, than pleasure 
travellers in Greece spend for a year. As to her moun- 
tains, instead of being barriers. to progress, they are the 
very loadstones which attract their profitable customers ; 
and they are perforated or overrun with magnificent high- 
ways of travel paid for by foreign capital. The Swiss 
by force of climate is a patient plodder ; but the Greek 
under great disadvantages is his equal in the heritage 
of toil. 

Agriculture in Greece has not yet thrown off the shack- 
les of Oriental servitude. Everything is primitive and 
backward as in Turkish times, and desolation and mis- 
ery meet the eye of the traveller who penetrates into 
the rural districts. Yet if the traveller who regards it 
as hopelessly black with incrusted poverty will " scratch 
the picture," he will find that such a thing as absolute 
poverty does not exist in Greece ; that food is abun- 
dant though of the coarsest kind, and he will also find 
that compared with the " smiling landscape" of English 
rural life, there is more domestic contentment and do- 
mestic virtue, temperance and chastity in the peasant 
life of a single province in Greece, than in all the great- 
er part of rural England. The mode of taxation is 
ill-devised and cumbrous, and is but a continuation 
with some modification, of the old Rayar system. By 



FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 163 

it the husbandman suffers delay in bringing his crop to 
market; loses by depreciation while awaiting the tax- 
gatherer's arrival, and finally in the tax to which it is 
subjected. It is easier to effect political, than social 
revolution. In one night, and without the least violence 
constitutional government was substituted for personal 
power in Greece. It would be a far more difficult mat- 
ter to introduce a modern plough into Greek soil. With 
the Chinese, old custom is a sacred inheritance, and 
centuries have failed to change the modus operandi of 
their commercial or mechanical life. In Greece it is 
not reverence for the ways taught their fathers by the 
Turks, which keeps the agriculturalist obstinately to the 
slow and unprogressive system, but the want of encour- 
agement to competition w^hich free labor and free laws 
would inspire. There is a natural spirit of content- 
ment in the agricultural laboring classes which clings to 
simplicity of habit, and sees no virtue in experiments at 
labor saving machinery. A few years ago a merchant at 
Athens adventured in a cargo of "Yankee notions," to 
wit : Connecticut clocks, churns, sewing machines, patent 
wringers, etc., but the result was a loss to the importer, 
and the experiment was not repeated. Probably if bet- 
ter managed a better result might have been obtained ; 
and we may yet find our steam ploughs turning up the 
soil of Arcadia, and our sewing, mowing and reaping 
machines astonishing the natives of Sparta and Olym- 
pia. A friend of mine once presented a washwoman 
with an American clothes-wringer — a very simple affair 



l64 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

calculated to save much labor and accomplish a large 
percentage of additional work. The poor hard-working 
woman was at first delighted with the gift, but in a few 
days went back again to her own muscles, which she 
preferred to strain and wear out, because that was what 
she was accustomed to. Innovation is received by the 
Oriental mind very much as a settled old bachelor re- 
ceives a proposition to marry ; the novelty of the idea 
is not an unpleasant sensation, but he weighs well the 
possible advantages of an entire change of the life he 
does know about, to one which is untried, and may bring 
him repentance. Since my residence in Greece I have 
seen a desire manifested to investigate questions of 
public economy which promise fruitful results, and some 
measures are actually in progress which will, beyond 
question, lead in time to an entire reorganization of the 
agricultural system. Parliament has already passed a 
law which permits the purchase by the tenant of the 
public lands — the payment to be made in instalments 
extending over eighteen years — which is analogous to the 
American system. The effect of this measure, when 
further simplified, will be to bring much of the land 
heretofore unoccupied under cultivation, and diffuse 
property among the class most likely to improve it. It 
is also likely that when the political economists have 
persuaded themselves of the immense advantages de- 
rivable from free agricultural labor — a subject already 
under discussion — some substitute will be found for the 
present onerous taxation. 



FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 



165 



Mechanical industry is in . its infancy in Greece. 
Steam power is employed in about twenty factories of 
different kinds, including the forge of the Greek Steam- 
boat Company at Syra. The manufacture of wines for 
domestic use is very extensive ; and many of them, 
such as the Kephissia of Attica, Malvoisi of Patras, and 
the red wines of Zante and Santorin, have an excellent 
reputation. The resin, which is put in to conserve 
most of the native wine, is an obstacle to their con- 
sumption abroad, as only the accustomed palate can en- 
joy this bitter aroma. The impatience of the Greek 
will not allow him to give the necessary time and capi- 
tal to the careful manufacture of wine for exportation, 
otherwise this important article of commerce might be 
largely extended. 

The approach of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary 
of Greek Independence was considered a fitting period 
for a National Industrial Exhibition of the products of 
Greece, and for the revival of the Ancient Olympic 
games. 

The Industrial Exposition was frequented for many 
weeks by crowds of curious and interested people. A 
tasteful building was erected for the purpose, in the 
large open space where stand the ruined columns of the 
temple of Jupiter Olympus. It was about one hundred 
and fifty feet long, with a transverse section of half 
that length. Three passages ran lengthwise of the build- 
ing, on either side of which the articles on exhibition 
were arranged, with an excellent view to general and 



1 66 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

detailed effect. A marble fountain threw up a stream 
of water near the centre of the main aisle ; and clusters 
of flowers, with the long, graceful leaves of the banana 
tree, enhanced the pleasing spectacle. There were gath- 
ered specimens of the production of the whole king- 
dom. Marbles from Pentehcus and Paros, coals from 
Cymae, lead from Euboea, honey from Hymettus and 
Cerigo, currants from the Peloponnesus, figs from Syra, 
wool and cotton from the northern provinces, olive oils 
from Corfu and Zante, wines from Santorin and other 
islands of the 'Archipelago, inlaid tables and cabinets, . 
carpets of gorgeous colors, delicate laces and gauze silk 
woven by Cretan refugees, and specimens of machinery ; 
among which latter were a well-finished steam engine, 
several wine and oil presses, and a sawing machine. 
Here was a carriage, valued at a thousand dollars, which 
would do no discredit to our Central Park; there, sad- 
dles and bridles, ladies' shoes, tanned and embossed 
leather, gold-embroidered Greek costumes, and carvings 
in wood — almost equal to the " laborious orient ivory, 
sphere in sphere," of the Chinese — as well as creditable 
specimens of sculptured marbles, and drawings and paint- 
ings by the pupils of the Polytechnic school. A large de- 
partment was occupied by the cereals of Greece, and in a 
compartment outside the main building, was a small but 
fine collection of live stock. 

This exposition was inaugurated by a religious cere- 
mony and an address to the throne by the president of 
the association, in presence of the King and Queen, the 



FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 167 

diplomatic body, the chief personages of the state, and 
a brilliant crowd of invited guests. That Greece has 
not stood quite still during the last few years, may be 
inferred from the increased variety and value of the ar- 
ticles exhibited, as compared with that collected at the 
National Exposition of eleven years ago, which were 
valued at 240,000 drachmes, or about $40,000. The cost 
of the specimens last exhibited was officially estimated 
at 850,000 drachmes, or more than $140,000. 

The tendency of the modern Greek mind to conserve 
and propagate Hellenic ideas, makes the people never 
forgetful of those salient points in ancient history, which 
indicate the character and originality of the race whom 
they delight to designate as their "forefathers." When- 
ever, therefore, any opportunity presents itself for em- 
bodying these ideas in visible form, it is eagerly seized 
upon, not only to prove to the world that the people of 
to-day are the legitimate descendants of Themistocles 
and Pericles, but because there is in the modern Greek, 
a natural or acquired taste for many of those occupa- 
tions and amusements which were engrossing pursuits 
in the best epochs of ancient Greece. 

During Otho's reign there was an attempt to produce 
something like the ancient Olympic games, showing the 
dominant taste of the people for public exhibitions of 
skill, with victorious rew^ards. But it is only lately that 
anything like a systematic course of training for com- 
petitive athletic exercises, has been seriously entertained. 
The chief animus to this movement is found in the be- 



l68 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

quest of a certain wealthy Greek, M. Zappas, who left 
a sum exceeding thirty thousand francs per annum to 
assist in establishing an Exhibition of National Indus- 
try, and of competitive athletic sports, which, under the 
title of the " Olympia," will, it is intended, recur at in- 
tervals of four years, as in ancient times. This is one 
of many instances where the " great idea " of Hellenic 
supremacy is recognized in bequests of deceased indi- 
viduals, who have thus founded or assisted existing pub- 
lic institutions in Greece. 

The " Olympic Games " took place on a Sunday after- 
noon in the ancient Stadium at Athens. A little to the 
south of the city, following a circuitous course, the wide 
gravelly bed of the ancient Ilissus, nov/ a feeble, and in 
summer a nearly exhausted stream, is bounded by a 
sloping bank, verdureless, and in places too steep and 
stony to ascend without difficulty. In this bank of 
earth, at a period which has not been satisfactorily ascer- 
tained, but probably three hundred and fifty years be- 
fore the Christian era, the ancient Greeks cut, or scooped 
out of the soil, a semi-elliptical hollow, facing the north 
and at right angles with the river. Its length was more 
than six hundred English feet ; and the sloping sides wxre 
filled with long ranges of marble seats for the accommo- 
dation of the spectators. This beautifully constructed 
amphitheatre, open to the air and admirably adapted, 
from its natural position, for the purpose intended, was 
the " Stadium '^ or race-course of the Athenians. A 
bridge crossing the Ilissus formerly conducted to it ; but 



FIFTY YEARS OF INDErENDENCE. 



169 



this has long since disappeared, the foundation stones 
only being now visible. The form of the ancient Stadi- 
um is unimpaired, and until recently has presented a 
grass grown hollow, frequented by flocks of sheep. 

About two years ago, King George authorized exca- 
vations to be made, with a view to the restoration of the 
ancient lines, and for this purpose was obliged to pur- 
chase the land from various owners, who were opposed 
to any infringement upon their property. The excava- 
tions continued for several months, and resulted in less 
than was looked for in the shape of antiquities ; but on 
the slope forming the upper and concave end of the 
Stadium, several marble seats were exhumed ; and else- 
where a large Hermes in marble was discovered, which 
is now transferred to one of the lower halls of the King's 
palace. But the most interesting of the remains brought 
to light, is the almost perfect semi-circular low wall of 
marble masonry, which ran around the upper end of the 
floor of the Stadium, and afforded the passage-way for 
the guests to pass thence to the seats above ; also frag- 
ments of original steps leading thereto. Thus the level 
of the ancient race-course was ascertained, and it be- 
came a comparatively easy task to cart away the accu- 
mulated debris of centuries, and to restore the Stadium 
to its original smooth afnd graceful proportions. Noth- 
ing was required to be done to the surrounding banks, 
but to cut lines of seats and cover them with rough 
boards. On the occasion of the exhibition now under 

notice, a pavilion of painted wood, supported by pillars 
8 



170 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

wreathed with olive and surmounted by flags, was erect- 
ed at the upper end, and appropriated to the use of the 
King and Queen, and the members of the diplomatic 
corps. Running posts, climbing masts and ropes, and 
four flag-staffs, displaying the national standard, were set 
up on the space below. Thus was the Panathenaic Sta- 
dium reinaugurated for the benefit of modern Athenians, 
and with scarce a change — excepting in the substitution 
of wood for marble seats — in its external form and ap- 
pearance from former days — days when, amid the plau- 
dits of the eager multitude piled tier on tier above him, 

" The runner, swift six hundred feet, 
Twice climbed the tall arch of his double course." 

Probably a larger audience never assembled on those 
sloping banks of the ancient Stadium, than was collected 
on this occasion. The number of persons present was 
variously estimated j but counting by groups of a hundred, 
there appeared to be twenty thousand spectators. The 
dense black of the assemblage was relieved by the occa- 
sional scarlet fez and snowy fustinella of the national 
costume. 

Imagine this multitude of people seated with the ut- 
most order and decorum in the open air, and covering 
the entire surface of the sloping banks, with the space 
below dotted with the athletae — some thirty well-formed 
men whose flesh-colored tights were the nearest approx- 
imation to the oiled nakedness of their ancestors, and a 
half dozen " judges " in blue sashes standing in the 
centre of the arena. Add to this the bursts of military 



FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. lyi 

music from the band stationed below the royal pavilion, 
the shouts and clapping of hands as the winner received 
his victorious wreath, and then the perfect beauty of the 
day. It was the 27th of November, with the atmos- 
phere of June. A sunny glow fell over the scene and 
lit up the perspective seen through the aperture of the 
hills, with the King's palace rising in the distance from 
the dense foliage of its surrounding gardens. 

It was amusing to observe how each detail of the ar- 
rangements had been made to imitate those of antiqui- 
ty. Even in the printed programme the ancient words, 
as "jumping" and " wrestling," were unfamiliar to many 
of the Greeks who read them. The runners on this oc- 
casion, like the ancients, as described by Greek histori- 
ans, "ranged themselves in line, after having drawn lots 
for their places, and took the oath of fidelity to the rules 
and regulations of the game." 

At the conclusion of each performance the "judges, 
standing in their midst," announced the name of the 
victor, with his parentage and the place of his birth : 
after which the hero, glowing with the sweat of conten- 
tion, mounted the stairway to the front of the King's 
seat, and received from his Majesty the first prize — like 
that awarded in the ancient Olympic games — " a simple 
wreath of wild olives," with which crowning himself he 
descended to the arena below, in the midst of a tempest 
of applause. The second best received a sprig of olive 
from the hands of the Queen, and the third a sprig of 
bay leaves. 



1^2 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

The performances occupied about three hours, and 
consisted of foot-races, or the " double course," viz. : 
up the centre of the Stadium, round the turning post and 
back to the point of departure — a distance of about four 
hundred EngHsh yards ; rope-cHmbing, hand over hand, 
a distance of about twenty feet ; and chmbing the mast, 
with both hands and legs, to the height of sixty-three 
feet. The successful aspirant in this performance re- 
ceived, in addition to the wreath of honor, a reward of 
one hundred drachmes. There were but two winners in 
this last arduous achievement. Then followed exercises 
in rope pulling, in leaping, with and wdthout the pole, 
the greatest distance accomplished being about nine- 
teen feet j flinging the discus or quoit, which measured 
twenty-five centimetres in diameter, and weighed two and 
three-quarter pounds; throwing the javelin, which fre- 
quently pierced the " bull's eye " at a distance of thir- 
teen feet. Several well-contested wrestling matches, 
after the manner of the pancratiasts, concluded the feats 
of the modern athletse. On the whole, these were of a 
higher order of merit than was generally expected at 
this, the first feeble attempt to revive Olympic games on 
the spot where the ancient Greeks covered themselves 
with glory, over twenty-two centuries ago. 



EDUCATION. 




EDUCATION. 

" O golden moon ! 

That lights me to letters ; 
God's most precious boon — " 

JR something like it — is the sentiment of a re- 
frain which the Greek boys used to carol 
nightly on their way to school during the 
Turkish regime. It is familiar to every Greek, now as 
then, and fathers point to the moon and repeat the lines 
to their children, telling them how she befriended them 
in the dark times of Ottoman domination. To avoid 
giving offense to their rulers, which might have prevent- 
ed any efforts on their own part at self-instruction, the 
children, and often their parents used to steal quietly at 
night to the house of the teacher to pursue their studies. 
Thus the village school became a sort of secret associa- 
tion, — not for revolutionary intrigues, but for mutual 
improvement, — and the moon, as the triplet says, light- 
ed them on their way, — Diana giving what the day de- 
nied. 

The Turkish authorities did not absolutely interfere 
with the education of the Greeks, but they gave it no 
encouragement, and as public instruction was wholly 



1^6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

neglected among their own people, they could scarcely 
be expected to regard with complacency any efforts 
at self-enlightenment on the part of the large popula- 
tion of their quick-witted and discontented subjects. 
The mind of the Greek partook of the condition of his 
conquered country. It lav fallen and unredeemed save 
in isolated places, where cultivation only served to 
heighten the contrast of the melancholy waste about it. 
The Greek schools were small in number and far apart, 
and were supported by the self-imposed contributions 
of the different communes, and by the Greeks abroad. 
There was no freedom of instruction any more than 
there was freedom of political action ; and letters took 
their share in the national misery. 

It was not until the dawn of Greek independence, 
that any systematized schooling was undertaken by the 
Greeks, but they did not wait for an established gov- 
ernment before providing for this necessity. The Na- 
tional Assembly discussed measures for the education 
of the children while the army was battling with the en- 
emy. Thus letters went hand in hand with the progress 
of liberty, and with an organized National Government 
came organized national education. 

In 1835 there existed in "free Greece" but 71 pri- 
mary schools attended by 6,721 pupils. At present, ac- 
cording to official reports, there are 73,219 persons under 
instruction in Greece at public establishments ; and 7,978 
persons at private establishments; making in all 81,197, 
or one to about 18 of the population. First come the pri- 



EDUCATION. 



177 



mary schools, 1,141 in number, which afford instruction 
to 52,943 boys and 11,035 girls. The Hellenic Grammar 
schools and Gymnasia follow with about 2,000 pupils, 
and the University completes the system of education. 
At the three last, instruction is wholly free. The pub- 
lic schools are supported partly by the communes and 
partly by the State. In the most thorough ones the pupil 
is taught reading, writing and arithmetic, the catechism, 
the first rudiments of grammar, and an elementary ac- 
quaintance with history, geography, natural history, ag- 
riculture and drawing. A Seminary at Athens contrib- 
utes to the education of primary instructors. In the 
Gymnasia (colleges) is acquired a knowledge of the 
classics, a thorough acquaintance with ancient Greek, 
the Latin and French languages, elementary mathe- 
matics, history, geography, logic, anatomy and the ele- 
ments of physic and natural history. The University at 
Athens was founded in 1835, and has 50 professors 
and 1,244 students, a*' large proportion of whom are 
Greeks from the Turkish provinces. It ranks in Europe 
as a second-class university, and the examinations are 
conducted with strictness. The chief branches of 
learning taught at the University are theology, law, phi- 
losophy, belles lettres, and pharmacy. Connected with 
the University is a library of about a hundred thou- 
sand volumes ; a Mathematical Museum, a Museum of 
Natural History (incomplete), an Astronomical Observ- 
atory — erected by Baron Sinna the well-known Greek 

banker at Vienna — which is under the direction of 
8* 



178 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



Professor Schmitt; a Botanical Garden, and a Polytech- 
nic School. 

These statistics will afford a general idea of what 
Greece has accomplished in educational matters within 
the space of thirty-five years — her brief period of inde- 
pendence, after centuries of barbaric thraldom. It 
may be interesting to compare the condition of the 
Kingdom in this one particular of popular education, 
with other and older nations. We have seen that Greece 
with half a century of free institutions, and a popula- 
tion of a million and a half of people, affords instruc- 
tion to over 80,000 scholars, of whom 73,219 are pupils 
at public schools. What, for instance, has England, 
with six centuries of " chartered liberty," done for her 
twenty-one million of people in the way of primary edu- 
cation ?. According to the official returns of 1869, but 
1,153,572 attended primary schools, the returns of 743 of 
which were signed by the master or mistress with a 
mark ! Of the character of the^e English schools Mr. 
Anthony Trollope says : 

" The female pupil at a free school in London is, as a rule, either 
a ragged pauper or a charity girl, if not degraded, at least stig-nia- 
tized by the badges and dress of the charity. The Englishmen 
know well the type of each, and have a fairly correct idea of the 
amount of education which is imparted to them. We see the same 
result afterwards, when the same girls beeome our servants and the 
wives of our grooms and porters." 

In England in 1867, say the statistics, *' twenty-three 

per cent, of her minors were unable to write their names. 

In 1865 more than one-third of her Welshmen ; nearly 

one-third of the men of Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire 



EDUCATION. 



179 



and Norfolk ; more than one-third of the men of Suf- 
folk ; thirty-eight per cent, of the men of Staffordshire ; 
thirty-five per cent, of the men of Bedfordshire ; forty 
per cent, of the men of Monmouthshire, and one man 
in every four in Lancashire, could only make their mark. 
In South Wales, more than half the women ; in North 
Wales, Monmouthshire, Staffordshire and Lancashire, 
forty-six in every hundred women ; and in Bedfordshire 
two w^omen in five, could not write their names. Of 
I, GOO recruits in 1864, there were 239 in the same help- 
less predicament. Since these dates " there has been a 
little improvement in England, but in Scotland and Ire- 
land no improvement." 

The condition of France is about as bad as that of 
England. According to the tables, the number of con- 
scripts unable to read, amounts to thirty out of every 
hundred for the whole country, and it is calculated that 
" another generation will be required to extend the ben- 
efits of education to the whole population." Russia 
shows but one public pupil to every 77 inhabitants. In 
Spain and Portugal public instruction is extremely un- 
satisfactory. Italy has only recently begun to develope 
any system of primary instruction ; and in Turkey edu- 
cation is still so low as not to attract any attention. 

In Greece, on the contrary, it may be safely asserted 
that no man, woman or child born in the Kingdom since 
the organization of free institutions, is so deficient in 
elementary knowledge as not to be able to read and 
WTitc. The cost of pubUc instruction constitutes 0.053 



l8o THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

of the total expenditure of the State, a larger per cent- 
age than is paid for these objects by either France, Italy, 
Austria or Germany, and in proportion to her resources, 
years and population, she stands undeniably first in the 
rank of nations — not excepting the United States — as 
a self-educated people. Chiefly her pre-eminence lies in 
the fact that whereas in countries which do not neglect 
popular education, such as Prussia, Saxony, Switzerland 
and Denmark, instruction is obligatory, in Greece it is 
voluntary. The law there obliges the attendance of 
children at the public schools, but the sentiment, or I 
may rather say the natural craving of the people for 
learning is more powerful than the law. Not only does 
the parent feel a pride in having the child instructed, 
but the child himself seeks knowledge and pursues it 
with avidity. The Greek boy does not " creep unwil- 
lingly to school," but his chief delight is to learn. To 
him the holiday is a relaxation, not a longed for i^elease 
from dull books ; and this passion never deserts him , 
until he has reached his classics and begun to dream of 
fame. There have been instances of children running 
away from home, and secreting themselves to pore over 
their grammars or Greek readers ; and there are scores 
of boys who have travelled barefoot tOv Athens, living 
on way-side crusts, in order to prepare themselves in 
the Gymnasia, for the University. This desire for men- 
tal improvement extends to all classes and ages. Men 
who have missed opportunities of schooling when young, 
devote their evenings and moments of leisure between 



EDUCATION. igl 

their daily occupations to earnest study. It is not an 
uncommon thing in Athens for house servants, men as 
well as boys, to be found busy over their copy-books or 
grammars when not under the surveillance of their mis- 
tress. All this is well known to the resident in Greece, but 
is a source of much astonishment to strangers who some- 
times denounce the race as barbarous, and lament the 
want of education as a civilizing process. It is a com- 
mon thing with such critics, when the real condition of 
things is made known to them, to shift their position 
and charge the Greek with being " over educated." The 
" barbarians '' of a moment before become transformed 
into "useless scholars," whose education has unsettled 
their brain, excited their vanity and self-esteem, and 
made them unfit for practical life. " If the Greek thought 
more of his pocket and less of his brains, he would be 
a useful citizen," said one, who a short time before had 
supposed that such a thing as a common school was 
unknown in the Kingdom of Greece. But we have 
seen in a previous chapter that where the means and 
opportunity are clearly before him, the Greek is clever 
enough to avail himself of them, and to rise to an emi- 
nent position in the mercantile circles of other cities. 
The evil is not that he is " over-educated," but that the 
physical energies are neglected, chiefly for want of a 
field to exercise them in. The laws of Solon punished 
the parent who did not educate the child in a manner 
conformable to his position, and which would secure the 
means of self-support. The moderns seek education 



l82 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

in the higher schools without regard to the natural apti- 
tude of their children, and thus many are diverted from 
practical pursuits, and the farm is neglected for the 
profitless pursuits of the law. Yet by nature the Greek 
has adaptiveness in almost as marked a degree as the 
American. Place him in the same position freed from 
the physical disadvantages of Oriental birth and blood, 
and we should witness the same material success attend 
him as attends our own people, and with perhaps a keener 
sense of mental enjoyment from the fact of his intel- 
lectual receptivity. As it is, seeing no gold mine at his 
feet, and not knowing how to work it if he did see one, 
he flies to book-learning, or climbs the perilous ladder 
of politics. This is all very disheartening for Greece ; 
but the shame of her poverty is in a measure glorified 
by the fact that her people are not a race of imbeciles ; 
and that she does not follow in the wake of some of the 
richer and more populous countries of Europe, by the 
encouragement of popular ignorance and vice. " It is 
a most disgraceful fact," says a recent reviewer, " that 
the landlords of England have, as a class, uniformly 
set their faces against any national system of education 
avowedly for the reason that it would endanger their 
supremacy." The same maybe said of other countries 
where the percentage of education is so lamentably 
small. They have yet to see what England is begin- 
ning too late to see, that it is the neglect of popular 
education which really threatens the supremacy of her 
rulers. The danger to be apprehended in England is 



EDUCATION. 183 

not republicanism, but the want of enlightenment among 
the masses. It is not the exercise of popular rights that 
she has to fear, but the exercise of popular ignorance. 

In Great Britain there are 347 individuals to the 
square mile. In Greece 58 individuals to the square 
mile. England covers the ocean with her ships, dark- 
ens the heavens with the smoke of her furnaces, makes 
the air resonant with the sound of her spindles. One 
half of her population lives upon the other half — and a 
third of her people cannot read or write — but they can 
think. Greece, poor as she is, indebted as she is, with 
only four per cent, of her people of independent means, 
and with but eight per cent, engaged in mercantile pur- 
suits, and half her entire population shepherds or peas- 
ants, is to-day, politically safer — so far as internal tran- 
quility is concerned — than is England. In the latter 
country a revolution would be attended with the horrors 
and vicious results of an infuriated mob. In France we 
have already seen it under the name of " Communism" 
which is another name for common ignorance. In 
Greece the revolutionary spirit has been a spirit only, not 
animal ferocity or self-indulgence. That this has been 
largely owing to the natural instincts of the people under 
a certain degree of mental cultivation, cannot be doubt- 
ed. Athens is a city of talkers and boasters, but it is 
also a city of readers, and a strong undercurrent of cul- 
tivated thought runs steadily and tranquilly beneath the 
effervescent surface of the political life. Whatever may 
occur there to endanger her institutions, there will al- 



l84 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

ways be hope for a return to the principles of self-gov- 
ernment, while her free press and free debates keep 
open channels for the admission of the truth. The lit- 
erary tastes of the people may possibly tend to keep her 
poor, but it will always keep her respectable ; and as the 
press and the school grow stronger they will grow purer. 
Neither education nor the press in Greece is what it 
should be. The school system, although creditable to a 
country just emerged from darkness, is not thorough. 
The young are too much impressed with the glory and 
grandeur of the ancient, and the superlative merits of 
the modern Greek. Their geographical map wants to be 
enlarged, and the condition and progress of foreign na- 
tions made the serious study of every youth in the land. 
We see the want of this knowledge in the limited range 
of some of her politicians and in the national self-com- 
placency of some of her leadmg minds. The masters 
of the village schools are neither sufficiently impartial in 
their treatment of their pupils, nor sufficiently independ- 
ent of political influences. The Minister of Public In- 
struction holds them as his willing slaves, and while this 
is the case, favoritism and subservience will militate 
against education. It is a well-known fact that the best 
scholars are often the neglected mountain lads and not 
the sons of the wealthy and influential citizen. Still 
less independent of political control is the University, 
which is too frequently the seat of partisan power. 
There, in those teeming young brains, is engendered the 
warfare of the political arena, and there is no national 



EDUCATION. 185 

movement afoot, that the University has not a part or 
lot in. A recently retiring Rector in his valedictory ad- 
dress "congratulated '^ the students upon the fact that 
the University was more -than ever " accentuated with 
the political life of the nation." It is also said that the 
University examinations, although severe, are not always 
impartial, nor always a test of thorough education. 

The literature of modern Greece has blossomed 
abundantly in the free soil, but produced no full grown 
flowers of poesy or prose, if we except the stirring songs 
of Rhigas and Salomis during the epoch of the revolu- 
tion. There is a deluge of pamphleteering, but few 
standard works by modern authors. Several Greek 
translations of notable European works have appeared, 
and this department of literature should be encouraged 
and extended. Before 1821 there were no newspapers 
in Greece, and the commencement of journalistic liter- 
ature was very unpromising. Now it is an " institution " 
of the country, as may be inferred from the fact that 
there are at present seventy-seven newspapers pub- 
lished in the Kingdom — of which three are in French 
edited by Greeks, and thirteen periodicals. The news- 
papers are small in size, and but few appear daily. 
They are the exponents of cliques or parties — some- 
times of an individual mind — and if they succeed in 
barely sustaining themselves, are seldom abandoned. 
Forty printing estabHshments and six type foundries in 
Athens find constant employment. JournaUsm in 



1 86 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

Athens is for the most part superficial and Hmited in its 
range — too local, too personal, and not sufficiently the 
exponent of high and immutable statesmanship. There 
are exceptions of course among so many journals; and 
the wholesome character of more than one is percepti- 
bly shown in the character and number of their readers. 
Many very respectable literary associations do honor 
to the capital — such as the Society for the extension of 
primary education, the Archaeological Society, the Med- 
ical Society, the Natural History Society, the Athenseum 
with lectures for the higher classes, and a society for 
the instruction of the working classes. The magnifi- 
cent marble structure now in process of erection for the 
Greek Academy — elsewhere alluded to — promises to 
be honored by an association of scholars who will not 
permit what there is of artistic and scientific knowledge 
to wither in that classic land . Although modern de- 
velopments are but feeble ofi'shoots of a decayed trunk, 
which at times seems past the power of reinvigoration ; 
although the fine arts, as might be expected after a des- 
olation of ages, are but caricatures of what European 
ateliers are daily producing, yet in oratory aud letters 
there is much to hope for ; for the mental endowments 
of the people, like coals under ashes, slumber only to 
break forth into vitality with the first breath of inde- 
pendence. Societies for the restoration of the ancient 
Greek tongue are in progress ; and dramatic perform- 
ances by the students of the University have been at- 



EDUCATION. 187 

tempted with the tragedies of Sophocles and the come- 
dies of Aristophanes. With regard to the modern 
Greek language, it has been said that " it is approach- 
ing again so closely to its mother, that one seems to hear 
only a provincial rendering of the same tongue. Some- 
times the streams run for a good while side by side ; 
sometimes they intermingle. That the substance of the 
modern Greek language will be brought into complete 
identity with the ancient, at no distant period, seems to 
admit of no doubt." However this may be, it is veiy 
certain now, tliat European and American Greek schol- 
ars, when they jump ashore at the port of Athens, find 
themselves " utterly at a loss for words," — not to ex- 
press their astonishment or delight — but their common 
wants. With some difficulty they manage to understand 
a Greek newspaper, but the oral language is "all 
Greek " to them. Most of the " Professors " of the 
Greek language who have gone out to refresh their 
studies of Ancient Greece on the sites of antiquity, 
have been obliged to commence their alpha-beta ^ over 
again, in order to find their way without a Greek inter- 
preter. It is a curious fact that while modern Greeks are 
laboring to restore, or at least to keep alive the ancient 
tongue, the modern Greek is attracting the attention of 
European scholars. The latter cannot be acquired with 
proficiency out of Athens ; hence foreign visitors to the 
Greek capital may be expected to comprise among their 
number, many who will remain sufficiently long not only 



l88 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

to become acquainted with the modern veraacular, but 
with the character of the people who speak it ; and thus 
disabuse their minds, in part at least, of the erroneous 
prejudices which at present discolor their judgments 
with regard to the intelligence and moral development 
of the modern Hellenes. 



/" 



THE GREEK CHURCH. 




THE GREEK CHURCH. 

She Greek Church is weak, and religion is 
strong/^ says Professor Burnouf, of the 
French Institute at Athens, in an interest- 
ing paper which he contributes to the Revue des Deux 
Mondes. " The Greek Church is strong, and rehgion is 
weak," says the historian Finlay, in a letter to me 
commenting on Mr. Burnouf 's article. Thus two intelli- 
gent writers, long resident in Athens, differ totally in 
the result of their observations on this important subject. 
If by the " Church " is intended the outward organi- 
zation which governs the communities acknowledging 
and practising the faith of the Greek Orthodox Chris- 
tians, it seems impossible not to regard it as a compact 
and powerful organization. If by "religion" is meant 
theology pure and simple, that of the Greek Church, in 
the number of its disciples, in its unity and in its free- 
dom from heterodoxy, may be said to be stronger than 
any other form of professed Christian belief. But if by 
the religion of the Greek Church is meant popular 
piety — that pervading essence of faith which sancti- 
fies the private and public lives of men — it must, 
I fear, be acknowledged that the profession and 



192 THE GREEKS OP^ TO-DAY. 

forms of the Greek, like those of the Romish Church, 
bear a prominence in the pubHc eye dispropor-, 
tioned to that active principle of goodness which the 
observer might expect to see resulting therefrom. Per- 
haps this very prominence of religious observance, this 
outward and ever boastful union of Church and State, 
this blending of glittering religious paraphernalia with 
the political structure, excites expectations which in 
other communities are not excited by the independent 
and unobtrusive workings of religious associations. 

When we see people, as we do in Roman Catholic 
and Orthodox countries, pouring into the ever open 
churches, and note the vast number of those churches ; 
when bells peal for matins and vespers on week days as 
well as Sabbaths ; when the clergy of all grades, clothed 
in imposing canonical robes, make so large a feature in 
the street processions; and crosses and shrines meet 
the eye at every roadside, the natural inference is, not 
only that " the Church " is a prominent part of the social 
system, but that religious faith and religious conduct 
must be the chief characteristic of the people. The out- 
ward and omnipresent sign, like the roll of drums and 
flying flag in a garrisoned town, denotes an active and 
palpable power protecting and vivifying the community 
around. A perpetual exhibition of external religious 
forms and ceremonies is a perpetual challenge to inves- 
tigation j and hence the deficiencies, if found to exist, 
in the moral and religious life of such a people, are the 
more open to criticism and to stricture. 



THE GREEK CHURCH. 193 

The Greek Church and the Greek nation are, so to 
speak, synonymous terms. The larger proportion of the 
people beUeve that one is so dependent on the other, 
that one would cease to be, without the other. As the 
Church cannot exist without the people, the corollary 
is that the people cannot exist, as a nation, without the 
Church. The Church is, indeed, the corner-stone of the 
political fabric, and the declaration of its principles 
forms the first article of the Hellenic Constitution, to 
wit: 

" The dominant religion in Greece is that of the Orth- 
odox Oriental Church of Christ. All other recognized 
religions are tolerated, and the free exercise of worship 
is protected by law. Proselytism and all other inter- 
ferences prejudicial to the dominant religion are for- 
bidden." 

The Orthodox Church was not imperiled by the 
Ottoman domination. On the contrary, it was strength- 
ened by the cohesion of a common faith during four 
centuries of alien oppression. The Ottoman rulers rec- 
ognized, on their side, the importance of leaving their 
conquered subjects to their own religious ways in order 
that some element of peace and tranquillity might exist 
among them. Therefore the children were not taken 
from the mother, and she, like the many-bosomed 
divinity, nourished, from her thousand paps, her un- 
happy offspring, who clung the closer to the maternal 
breast. The Church was thus the implement of salva- 
tion to Greek nationality, and while she held the people 
9 



I-I4 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

together, she propagated Hellenic ideas, nourished the 
hopes of future independence, and wrought the first 
spells which made revolution in their eyes a religious 
obligation. It was Germanius, Bishop of Patras, who 
blessed the banner of revolt ; and it was Gregory, the 
Greek Patriarch of Constantinople, who fell among 
the first victims. 

The power, great as it is, of the Greek Church, is 
not chiefly spiritual, but chiefly temporal. It is a pro- 
fession of faith held together by forms and sanctified 
by hereditary observances. It is sufficient for the 
Greek that these forms have been the recognized 
standard of his nation from immemorial times. He 
does not stop to inquire whether a closer investigation 
of principles or tenets might not divulge inherent 
absurdities, because, however much a glimmering doubt 
on the subject may, from time to time, enter his mind, 
larger considerations of public policy, closely connected, 
as he thinks, with the safety of the State, are paramount 
to all other considerations. Ask him if he believes in 
the actual presence of the saint, whose body he assumes 
to be before him in a silver and jewelled shrine, and he 
shrugs his shoulders. " Themperaze " — never mind — 
this is the faith of my fathers — this is the faith of the 
Church. It is dangerous to play with fire, much more, 
sacred fire. One innovation would lead to another, and 
where would be the end ? — certainly the Church would 
not be more homogeneous by admitting discussions of 
its principles. What is, is at least harmless : what 



THE GREEK CHURCH, 195 

might be, might be hurtful. Let the Church and its 
institutions alone." 

There are social reformers who are of opinion that 
the laws of marriage are all wrong, and that society 
demands more facilities than at present exist for ridding 
men and women of the yoke which binds them together, 
when that yoke becomes intolerable to one or both. It 
is certainly sad to hear, as we do sometimes, of young 
and fresh-hearted people forced to wear out a miserable 
existence with each other, between whom there is no 
congeniality of taste or point of sympathy. But the 
moralist says : Better that such exceptions should exist 
than to discuss a question which, if acted upon, would 
open the door to infinite abuses, and, perhaps, dis- 
integrate society itself. Very much this feeling induces 
the Eastern Orthodox Christian to avoid discussion or 
even examination of the subject. Thus from fear of 
endangering the safety of the Church, the intelligent 
Greek shuts his eyes to what his own common sense 
assures him is false in theory, and, it must be added, 
corrupt in practice, because the masses are permitted 
by the clergy to cling to superstitious beliefs which are 
worthy only of pagan days. While the simple-minded 
peasant of Corfu continues to believe that the body of 
St. Speridien rises from its precious casket, where it is 
daily worshipped, and parades the corn-fields and walks 
the sea on certain nights to bless the work of the 
husbandmen and fishermen, their faith will be as dry 
and repulsive as the mummied remains they ignorantly 



196 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

bow down to. So is it with the beUef in sacred relics 
and all the train of lesser superstitions which appeal to 
the vacant senses and dethrone the power of reason. 
But the light is creeping into the Greek Church through 
chinks and crannies, and, I believe, will be permitted 
and encouraged to enter freely, long before their 
brethren of the Church of Rome, whom they love not, 
denounce the corruptions and practised deceptions, 
which debase their religion. The recent efforts on the 
part of one of the most enlightened of the bishops of 
Greece, to canonize Gregory the martyred Patriarch of 
Constantinople, met with no response from the govern- 
ment or people, who saw that neither the political 
nor moral attitude of the nation would be heightened 
in foreign regard, by a blind subservience to ideas which 
have long ceased to add to the real stability of the 
Church of Christ. 

The stranger who witnesses for the first time the 
ceremonies of the Greek Church, distinguishes but 
slight differences between them and the forms of Rom- 
ish worship. He sees the high altar and the candles, 
the pictures and the crucifix, the priests in their gor- 
geous canonicals and the cloud of incense diffused by 
the swinging censer, and hears the rapidly intoned 
prayers and the nasal vocalization of the choir, and 
wonders why the " Orthodox " and the " Romanist," so 
apparently close in forms and observances, should be 
so far asunder in spiritual and personal sympathies. 
Even the Romish Church pretends to see so little real/ 



THE GREEK CHURCH. 



197 



difference in faith as to hold out the hope that eventual- 
ly there will be union of the churches. To this end the 
Roman Catholic priesthood use all their endeavors' to 
proselyte the Greek; not openly, in violation of the 
Greek law, but clandestinely — ^by the establishment of 
schools and charities, and by availing themselves of 
every opportunity to extend the hand of invitation to 
their opponents. But the Greek is too individual in 
character, too national in spirit, and too astute in under- 
standing, to be misled by their movements. He does 
not himself seek to proselyte, and views with suspicion 
and anger all attempts of the kind from without. 
Hence the breach between the two churches grows 
wider and there is really less likelihood of reli- 
gious amalgamation in that direction, than there is 
of a union between the Greek Church and the Church 
of England, where there is an approximation of ideas 
without jealousy, although the latter alliance is as hope- 
less as the former. The recognition of the Pope of 
Rome as the supreme spiritual and temporal head of 
the Church, is an obstacle which no Greek, pious or 
impious, would dream of surmounting. Other differ- 
ences in faith and in ceremonials between the Ortho- 
dox and Romish Churches are sufficiently marked to 
account for the intolerant spirit which pervades both. 
Some of these may be mentioned. The Orthodox 
Christian rejects the doctrine of the "procession" of 
the Holy Ghost from Father to Son, and the power 
of direct absolution by the priest. He disbelieves in 



igb THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

purgatory, yet prays for the dead that " God will have 
mercy on them at the final judgment." The Romanists 
employ in the communion service unleavened bread, 
the priests alone partaking of the sacramental wine, 
and the elements are consecrated by uplifting and 
declaring them. The Greek priests employ ordinary 
bread, and administer with it the sacramental wine, 
which are consecrated by prayer and benediction. 
Baptism, in the Romish Church, consists in making the 
sign of the cross on the forehead of the child, by the 
finger of the priest dipped in holy water. In the Greek 
Church the child is baptized by triune immersion. The 
Roman Catholic makes the sign of the cross before his 
forehead and eyes, accompanied by the genuflection of 
the right knee. The Greek makes it by uniting the tips 
of the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand, 
and touching alternately the forehead, navel, right 
breast and left breast three times in rapid succession, 
whenever he passes a church, sees the cross or hears 
the name of the Saviour pronounced. Among Roman- 
ists, auricular confession takes place in the confes- 
sional-box, the penitent being separated from the 
priest by a latticed screen. Among Greeks auricular 
confession is less generally observed, and is made only 
to selected elders of the priesthood, in a retired part of 
the church, as two persons would engage in conversa- 
tion. The Virgin Mary of the Catholic Church, with 
or without the infant, is painted on canvas with soft, 
womanly attributes, and the image of the Saviour, in 



THE GREEK CHURCH. 



199 



wood, ivory or marble, on the elongated cross, is dis- 
played in the churches and street processions as a part 
of the machinery of worship. The Virgin of the Greek 
Church is worshipped exclusively as the mother of 
Christ, or, as both Churches express it, " the Mother 
of God," and is generally painted on small panels, in 
the hard style of the Master of Perugia, the face and 
hands appearing between plates of metal, and she is 
never represented without the child. Images, even as 
bas-relief or as ornaments to church architecture, are 
forbidden ; and paintings of the Saviour or of the Vir- 
gin are not borne in street processions, the insignia 
employed being the rectangular " Greek Cross." At 
funerals a small panel picture of the holy Mary is set 
up on the breast of the corpse, as if he were contem- 
plating the revered features as he passes to his last 
resting-place. 

Many of the rites of the Greek Church are deeply 
impressive, and would be rendered more so if the 
prayers and Scriptures were read with less volubility 
and more unction — less after the manner of a mere 
mechanical routine and more like the utterances of 
religious inspiration. The immersion of the naked 
infant in baptism is a pure and touching spectacle ; 
but the private baptism of adults is calculated to shock 
the sensibilities, especially of females, and might well 
be curtailed in many of its details. The marriage cere- 
mony is interesting, but tediously long. Both bride 
and bridegroom are crowned with a wreath of orange 



200 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

blossoms, which are repeatedly shifted from one head 
to the other as emblematic of their indivisible union of 
interests and affections, which the marriage tie is sup- 
posed to create. The burial of the dead, with the ex- 
posure of the corpse during the funeral procession, the 
chanting of the priests, and the informal manner in 
which the crowd of mourners follow the remains to the 
grave, impart a solemnity to the proceeding more in 
consonance with the solemnity of the occasion than is 
the case in Protestant countries. Among Church ob- 
servances none is more effective and beautiful than the 
ceremony on Easter eve. Until midnight the churches 
and streets are shrouded in darkness and silence, but 
with the first stroke of twelve, every bell gives forth a 
merry clang, and from every church issues a dense pro- 
cession, each individual of which holds a lighted 
candle, and the streets become suddenly ablaze with 
candle-light, torches and colored fires, and alive with 
the moving and voluble populace. 

The Greeks are accused of picture worship. A 
stranger certainly cannot go into a church or chapel in 
that country and witness the people of all classes, and 
at all hours, walking up to the panel pictures of the 
Virgin, which hang upon the pillars and walls at a con- 
venient elevation, kissing them fervently in token of 
love, and knocking their foreheads against them in 
token of submission, without concluding that the pic- 
ture itself is the object of worship. But excepting 
among the most ignorant classes — among whom I fear 



THE GREEK CHURCH. 201 

that such is really the case — these ordinary paintings, 
which are sold cheaply about the streets and are sus- 
pended beside an ever burning taper in every house- 
hold, are not regarded as vraisemhlances of the Divine 
Mother, but as outward and visible aids to spiritual 
worship. As one kisses and clasps to his bosom, and 
wets with his tears the sacred and beloved image of his 
deceased mother, so the Orthodox and Roman Catholic 
Christian maybe supposed to regard, with a still greater 
intensity of love and admiration, the image of the 
mother of Him through whose " mediation " alone he 
looks for salvation. I am inclined to think that this is 
the explanation of picture worship in the Oriental 
Orthodox Church. 

According to our heterodox views, the tendency of 
such observances is towards materialism at the ex- 
pense of those inward emotions which sanctify worship, 
and are, indeed, its only essence. But the Greek 
maintains precisely the opposite theory, which is that 
if man is left without visible agencies, and to his own 
voluntary incentives to spirituality, he will neglect 
religion altogether or be lost in theoretical distractions. 
I believe that habit and custom are stronger than con- 
viction in Church matters; and that many a faithful 
attendant at the Greek service utterly repudiates in his 
heart many of the articles of faith to which he osten- 
sibly subscribes. I know, at least, of more than one 
instance to substantiate this view. But, however much 
or little the Greek may be inclined to argue the prin- 

9* 



202 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

ciples of his Church, few educated, fair-minded men in 
Athens will deny the startling need that exists for 
instructing and elevating the Greek clergy. It is not a 
hopeful sign for religion or for morals, when the men 
who administer the rites of the Church in public and in 
private, are for the most part illiterate and common- 
place. The black cap and flowing robe of the priest 
are seen in every street and in every assembly ; 
and, although a kindly and unpretending class of men, 
whose services are constantly in requisition with the 
community at large, their influence for good is weak- 
ened, if not positively annihilated, by the low status of 
their social condition. Even the faces of the priests be- 
tray a simplicity of ignorance, which, although contrast- 
ing favorably with the carnal expression of many of the 
Romish priesthood, indicate the want around them of a 
vital and inspiring religious element. The reason for 
this is obvious. The Greek priest lives from hand to 
mouth on the petty offerings of those who employ him— 
chiefly the poor, and among them chiefly the women — 
to pray for them in sickness, exorcise the " evil eye," con- 
secrate a new house, or new fishing boat or new vineyard, 
and perform the various rites of the Church. A few 
leptas a day, paid by the humblest class of the commu- 
nity, is all the support he has to depend upon. As may 
be supposed, under this condition of things, there is lit- 
tle inducement for young men to acquire a theological 
education. The class at the University is, therefore, 
very small in numbers, and composed of students who 



THE GREEK CHURCH. 203 

are not distinguished for scholastic ambition. The 
Church of Rome, in its immense diffusion of educa- 
tional resources, is in striking contrast to the negligence 
and indifference of the Oriental Orthodox Church in 
this respect. 

The Greek priest is a married man, and hence his life 
is purer than in other communities where celibacy is 
enforced. The monks form a small majority of the 
clergy. There is little sympathy between them and the 
married priesthood, and, as a rule, they excite more 
ridicule than reverence. The love of power is nowhere 
more strongly manifested than in the Synod of Bishops. 
To retain their power they discourage the elevation of 
the lower orders of the clergy, and would, if they could, 
debar them from rising into popular notoriety or fame 
by the exercise of any natural talents which they may 
possess. Jealousy between these religious orders is, 
therefore, a natural result of the exercise of ecclesiasti- 
cal power. 

Among the priests there occasionally appear men, 
who, from haying been in contact with foreign society, 
or from having acquired the advantages of foreign edu- 
cation, desire to cleanse the Church of its impurities 
and incite a more active religious principle in the 
masses. To do this they have established regular 
preaching in the churches, which has, heretofore, been 
almost neglected in Greece. But difficulties and hin- 
drances have been thrown in the way of their noble 
efforts which seriously discourage the hopes of perma- 



204 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



nent reforms. The preacher, especially if he is in 
danger of becoming popular, is closely watched, and if 
anything in his language from the pulpit can be con- 
strued into too great latitude in points of religious 
faith, the interdiction of the bishop falls upon his head, 
and for a se'ries of Sabbaths, or of months, he is sus- 
pended from the exercise of his holy functions. We 
are not wholly without such instances of Church intol- 
erance in our own religious communities. Dionysius 
Latas, an " archimandiate " of commanding abilities, is 
now exciting very great attention by his eloquent sermons 
in one of the churches at Athens. With the benefit of 
foreign education, and a knowledge of two or three 
languages, his mind has received an expansion which is 
most unusual in the class to which he belongs. If he 
lives and pursues his career with the courage which 
is absolutely necessary for success, Latas will undoubt- 
edly do more for the advancement of religious know- 
ledge and religious faith in Greece, than has been done 
by any single individual since the creation of the king- 
dom. For two hours at a time, from his pulpit in " St. 
Irene," this young preacher holds the undivided atten- 
tion of a closely packed and standing crowd — for there 
are no seats in a Greek church — -while he explains and 
enforces the truths of Scripture, large portions of 
which he repeats memoriter. He uses no notes, 
although he has evidently carefully studied his subject 
beforehand, and he often rises to impassioned elo- 
quence and fervor. My only opportunities for judging 



THE GREEK CHURCH. 



205 



of the capabilities of this remarkable priest, have been 
in private conversation with him, and these have 
confirmed the idea that his views, though broad, are 
sound ; and thai the Church has nothing to fear, and 
much to hope for, if such men are permitted, uninter- 
ruptedly, to go on in their work of religious enlighten- 
ment. Latas is of opinion that rehgion does not 
progress in Greece ; that the Church is sterile ; not that 
it corrupts, like the Romish Church, but that it does not 
produce fruits. He thinks that the country fails to 
sustain the people with wholesome advantages, and that 
religious ideas are taught at the expense of practical 
common sense. He believes that the tendency of 
people's minds in Greece is in the right direction ; that 
they are easily led astray, but as easily led aright, and 
are ever eager for something new, even if that some- 
thing is spiritual sustenance. 

I am clearly of opinion that reform in religious 
matters in Greece should commence with the University 
at Athens. A fund should be created, either by the 
government or by the wealthy Greeks of other cities, 
who are ever liberally disposed towards their country- 
men in Greece, for the wholesome and thorough educa- 
tion of the student of divinity, and for the decent 
support of the priesthood. This would reduce the 
disproportionate number of students now belonging to 
the Faculty of Law, of which there are 622, out of 
1,200, and increase the number of theological students, 
the need of which is but too apparent. Nor should the 



2o6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

Student confine his studies to Basil and the "golden- 
mouthed " Chrysistomos, but extend his researches fur- 
ther into the Scriptures. His mission as a priest should be 
the enforcement of practical morality among the people 
at large. Public preaching should be regarded as an 
absolute necessity of the Church, and the " Holy 
Synod" should see to it that it is encouraged and 
enforced. 

At present the fathers of the Church are in reality 
little better than an oligarchy, whose imperious will brings 
the entire priesthood into a narrow material subser- 
viency to power which degenerates and weakens the 
whole system. They walk in an incense-perfumed circle 
of outward observances, which forbids progress and has 
no other effect than to perpetuate their in"ciividual 
importance at the expense of the moral advancement 
of the whole people. The Church of Greece, which has 
done so much in times past for the accomplishment of 
national independence, should now labor for the disen- 
thralment of the people from that ecclesiastical servi- 
tude which prostrates and dishonors the nation, reduces 
the Church to a mechanical instrument of the State, and 
religion to a spiritless formality. 

The neglect of the religious education of the people 
in Greece is more apparent because of the striking 
contrast- it presents to the general thirst for common 
and classical education ; and the reason for this neglect 
is on a par with that given by other countries where 
the book-ignorance of the common people is regarded 



THE GREEK CHURCH. 207 

as a means of political safety. The English and Rus- 
sian proprietors do not afford common education to 
their dependents lest, when their eyes are open, they 
see too much and rise to higher social levels. But in 
Greece, where public schools are regarded as an indis- 
pensable condition of social life, ignorance is permitted 
in the priesthood, because the Church might be endan- 
gered by the discussion of theological dogmas. This is 
not the reason assigned, but such is the effect, and the 
sooner these cobwebs are effaced from the sacred struc- 
ture, and the broad light of day permitted to illuminate 
altar and chancel, the sooner will be effected those 
sterling reforms which will make the religion of the 
Greek Church a potent and conserving principle. 



AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 




AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 

NE of the drawbacks to a prolonged sojourn 
at Athens is the want of resident American 
society. In all, there are less than half 
a dozen families, and these consist of missionaries, 
chiefly Greeks by birth, who have been educated in the 
United States, and have married American wives. The 
missionaries are, for the most part, devoted to their 
work of preaching and teaching, and find little time or 
inclination to mingle in general society. They hold 
religious services, in the Greek language, at their own 
houses on Sundays and on specified week days, which 
are attended by small congregations of Greeks; and 
two or three well conducted schools for Greek and 
Cretan children are in successful operation under their 
charge. 

I believe the missionaries to be earnest workers in 
the field, and have no doubt that the " Annual Reports " 
which they furnish to the societies at home are calcu- 
lated to inspire confidence in the work of foreign 
evangelization in Greece. 

I do not know that a layman disconnected v/ith mis- 
sionary matters has any right to pass judgment upon 



212 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

them, and yet even criticism from this point of view 
may not be unkindly received, when its purpose is to 
strengthen reUgious teaching where most it is needed. 
My views with regard to proselytism differ no doubt 
from the opinions of many whose position and experi- 
ence may give them wider and juster scope of observa- 
tion. But to attempt to proselyte a people, or even 
an infinitesmal portion of them, from the worship of 
their fathers, sanctified to them by the influences of 
ages, is worse than futile. I say worse than futile, 
because " the attempt and not the deed, undoes " the 
missionary, in the eye of the people about him, and by 
exciting their suspicion, ridicule or hatred, lessens or 
annihilates his influence for good. I know what are the 
textual arguments ever brought to bear upon this view 
of the question, but there is no form of Christian wor- 
ship or tenet of Christian faith, however much it may 
differ from another form or tenet, that cannot be sup- 
ported and defended by isolated texts or injunctions. 

What I mean to say is that the work of proselytism 
in all countries is very unproductive, and interferes 
with that wider and deeper sphere of usefulness, the 
teaching of religion pure and simple — the duties between 
man and man — and the obligations of man to his 
Creator. 

The Greek religion, as I have shown, is woven into 
the fabric of nationality, and is inseparable from it. 
The faith of the Greek is as strong and unalterable as 
is that of the follower of Mahomet, or of Confucius, 



AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 213 

while he possesses the advantage over those of being 
. able to assert to the foreign missionary who would dis- 
turb it : " We are both Christians /" He might add : 
" Being one in essential faith, what right have you to 
proclaim as errors the forms and ceremonies wherewith 
we worship the Saviour, because your forms and cere- 
monies, and certain principles which they illustrate do 
not happen to be ours ? We, at least, have one point 
in our favor which you cannot adduce — we are united^ 
eighty millions of us in one profession of faith; you 
are divided among yourselves, each with a banner of his 
own, and ever engaged in polemical warfare ; what one 
sect regards as fundamental, the other spurns as heter- 
odoxicalj what one says is the spirit of Christianity, 
the other denounces as Atheistical. My brother, may 
it not be that you are wrong and we are right ? Instead 
of denouncing our faith, should not our example of uni- 
ty and fidelity prove an inducement for you to embrace 
rather than oppose it ? So, indeed, with much show 
of philosophy, might the Greek respond to the foreign 
missionary who seeks to convert him to Protestantism. 

I believe that some of our societies at home are 
beginning to hold the opinion that it is better, at least 
in Christian countries, to abandon all attempts, open or 
covert, to proselyte, and to direct their missionaries to 
confine their labors exclusively to the mental and moral 
education of such as will hear them, letting tenets, 
forms, doctrines and usages quite alone. If this prin- 
ciple had been adopted when tlie foreign missionary 



214 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



labor was initiated in Greece, the influence of the 
missionary would not be as colorless as it to-day is. It 
is now twenty years since Dr. Jonas King, the well- 
known American missionary, was brought to trial and 
condemned in the Greek courts, on a charge of " pub- 
licly and contemptuously mocking the doctrines, the 
ordinances and customs of the Eastern Orthodox 
Church, and expounding principles contrary to its fun- 
damental doctrines; inveighing against the Orthodox 
Greeks as worshipping the divinity after a wrong man- 
ner, and mocking and reviling the sacraments and the 
rites j calling the worship of the holy mother of God 
idolatry, and the holy fathers of the Greek Church 
heretics and idolators." On the evidence of certain 
persons — Greeks — that they had heard Dr. King on 
various occasions, in his own house, give offensive 
utterance to opinions adverse to many of the most 
sacred ordinances and doctrines of the Orthodox or 
dominant religion of Greece, Dr. King was condemned 
by the courts — subsequently confirmed by the Areo- 
pagus or Higher Court of Appeal — " on the ground that, 
although the Constitution of Greece sanctions the liber- 
ty of speech and tolerates the worship of foreign 
religions, it does not allow the condemnation of the 
principles, customs, doctrines and ordinances of the 
religion dominant in Greece." 

Dr. King was sentenced to " imprisonment for fifteen 
days, and after its termination, to expulsion beyond the 
bounds of the kingdom." 



AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 2:5 

The whole judicial proceedings appear to have 
been instituted out of deference to public opinion, 
which was greatly outraged against Dr. King, as well as 
to maintain the law, and strike an example which 
should be effective in preventing further " religious 
abuses," or "disturbance to the dominant Church." 
Hence, out of deference to Dr. King's nationality and 
personally good character, the sentence was not exe- 
cuted. The fifteen days' imprisonment consisted in 
walking Dr. King into one of the doors of the prison 
and out of another door. He succeeded, I believe, in 
dating, but not in writing, a letter from his "prison," 
and was comfortably housed elsewhere during the re- 
mainder of the term. Neither was the sentence of 
exile carried out. Dr. King continued to reside at 
Athens as a foreign missionary, with occasional ab- 
sences, until his death in May, 1869, and although he 
was always treated with the respect to which his calling 
and irreproachable conduct entitled him, he failed to 
win the confidence of the people around him, or to have 
any marked influence as a religious teacher. Nothing 
evinced this more than the small number of Greeks 
who attended his funeral. Although he dwelt among 
them for forty years, spoke their language, and was 
personally acquainted with almost every person of 
position in Athens, not a dozen Greeks were present, 
a circumstance the more significant, because they are 
exceedingly punctilious in paying due honors to the 
dead. 



2i6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

I have brought up this case of Dr. King, now for- 
gotten by many people at home, but which, at the time, 
created intense excitement and led to much diplomatic 
flourish, because of the unfortunate consequences to 
which it gave birth. As usual in such cases, there was 
great fault on both sides. Certainly Dr. King com- 
mitted no direct or open violation of the Greek law in 
the utterances which he made use of in his attempts to 
enlighten — and it must be added, for I have it from his 
own lips — to convert the Greek Orthodox Christians to 
his own religious views. The proceedings of the court 
show prejudice, haste, errors in judgment and insuffi- 
cient cause for the judgment pronounced. But he who 
knew Dr. King and his peculiar temperament and iron 
will, which was intolerant and dogmatic, can understand 
how aggravating to the public mind it was to have a 
foreigner persistently preaching down, as it were, the 
established faith with expressions or intimations which, 
to the ears of his auditors, seemed sacrilegious. To 
understand this, one need not be a Greek if he will 
disencumber himself of foreign prejudices and attempt 
to stand in the place of the Greek. Let him imagine 
that in one of our quiet towns a foreigner sent out and 
paid by a society abroad, should open his house for 
Sunday services, and then and there denounce as idola- 
trous and wicked our forms of Christian worship, and, 
with intolerant zeal, pronounce his own creed and ob- 
servances to be the only safeguards of human salva- 
tion. Would the people of that quiet town put up 



AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 217 

with it? An English journal furnished, some time ago, 
an excellent argument in denunciation of the intolerant 
spirit on the part of certain missionaries in China, to 
which was largely owing the excitement of the rabble 
which led to the horrible acts at Tin-Tsem. It asked : 
" What would be done with a priest of Buddha who 
should dare, in Charing Cross, to harangue a street 
crowd in behalf of Buddha? Doubtless they w^ould 
throw him in the Thames !" Dr. King did not harangue 
the street crowd, but he invited. the public to his preach- 
ings, and under the conviction that he was doing God 
service, stirred up the angry feelings of his hearers by 
persistently denouncing what they held to be sacred and 
efficient observances of the Church. 

Of course, in the eyes of his countrymen at home. 
Dr. King became a religious martyr from the moment 
that the account of his " persecution " in Greece 
reached the United States. Like a second St. Paul had 
he not wSuffered " imprisonment for righteousness' sake," 
and been banished like a common felon for preaching 
God's Word ? The crown of martyrdom was borne by 
Dr. King with complacent satisfaction, and he became 
the recipient of much epistolary sympathy and of 
material aid from his friends at home. 

The course adopted by Dr. King was not calculated 
to encourage missionary work at Athens, and to-day 
one of the chief difficulties in the way of its advance- 
ment is the bitter prejudice which exists in the popular 
mind, caused by the mistaken zeal and intolerance of 
some of the early workers in the missionary field. 



2i8 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

The Greek, however much inspired by curiosity to 
attend the preaching of a foreigner and a Protestant, 
keeps away, being suspicious, first, of the motive and 
second, of the sincerity of the preacher. Even if he 
attends Sunday after Sunday, and hears nothing uttered 
that is not in perfect accordance with the moral teach 
ings of the fathers of his own church, he wonders why 
men are sent thousands of miles, from America to 
Greece, and supported by foreign money to preach to 
them, if the real object is not to proselyte. ^^ Our own 
priests," said an intelligent Greek to me one day, " are 
supposed to look after our morals ; why are these mis- 
sionaries here, but for some special and secret pur- 
pose ?" 

The non-conformity of the Protestant with certain 
immemorial and sacred customs of the Greeks, is 
another hindrance to missionary labor. On the occa- 
sion of tte gathering of the children of the Cretan 
schools in front of the American Legation, one of the 
missionaries who conduct these excellent schools offered 
up in the Greek language a very fervent prayer. The 
crowd of by-standers listened with silent and marked 
attention. A Greek gentleman present was subsequent- 
ly asked what he thought of that prayer. He replied 
that there was nothing objectionable in it, nay, that it 
was a very beautiful and touching prayer, but that any 
good it might have had upon the people at large was lost, 
because the address to the Deity was unaccompanied by 
the sign of the cross." The symbol was wanting which 
sanctifies the prayer of the Greek. 



AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 219 

Protestant sectarianism is another barrier in the way 
of missionary work in Greece no less than in other 
countries. The faithful of the Oriental Orthodox 
Church will hardly be tempted to abjure the consoli- 
dated faith of his nation for the new school of teachers 
who are divided among themselves on questions of 
tenets and religious forms. The Greek is not so dull as 
not to perceive that the foreign missionary who accuses 
him of fanaticism and ignorant credulity despises his 
own fellow-worker of the other church for his sectarian 
opinions. While there may be no open wrangling 
among them, he knows that there is no unity of belief 
on cardinal points, and that each believes his brother 
in " error," whether the difference lies in sprinkling or 
total immersion, in confirmation or non-confirmation, 
in ritual worship or Quaker worship, in the Trinity or 
the Unity, in eternal damnation or eternal salvation. 

It is only by the avoidance of doctrinal points and 
by patient continuance in moral and intellectual teach- 
ing that the missionary in Greece has anything to hope 
for. The process at best is dry, slow and unsatisfac- 
tory ; but the missionary who confines himself to this 
will be left free to do his work, chiefly, it must be ad-^ 
mitted, because his work is regarded by the Greeks as 
harmless and ineffective. To those missionaries who 
have already adopted this policy, the Greeks are not 
unwilling listeners. Not long since an American mis- 
sionary preached a sermon on Mars Hill, taking for his 
subject the ever-memorable sermon of St. Paul, de- 



220 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

livered on the same spot. Although he had doubted 
the success of the attempt, it was a success. The day 
selected was a Greek fete day, wdien a large crowd of 
idlers were gathered on the slope of the hill sitting in 
groups on the grass enjoying the beautiful atmosphere 
of May. The curiosity of the people secured for the 
preacher the utmost attention, and no doubt the senti- 
ment gave way, before the sermon ended, to an earnest 
interest in the subject discussed. During the prayer 
which succeeded, the Greeks stood with uncovered 
heads, and no sign or sound of frivolity or ridicule 
marred the sacred scene. Such are among the signs, 
if not of a dawning interest in religious discussion, of 
a closer conformity between the decree and the spirit 
of religious toleration than has heretofore existed in 
Greece. 

Some idea may be formed of the inveterate opposi- 
tion of the Greeks to the introduction among them of 
schismatic views, and at the same time of their general 
willingness to permit religious teaching, even by foreign- 
ers, from the following remarks which appeared in the 
Greek Orthodox Review of December 15, 1870. Refer- 
ring to a small newspaper printed at Athens under the 
auspices of one of the " Evangelical " foreign mission- 
aries, it says : " The object of this periodical is to serve 
the purposes of the missionaries, viz. : to spread among 
us Protestant views ; and in order that this end may not 
be betrayed, which would cause them trouble, it confines 
itself, for the most part, to the simple expounding of 



AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 221 

the Gospel and unfolding the fundamental truths of 
Christianity common to all Christians. As long as it 
does this no one is justly offended or angry at its publi- 
cation, but on the contrary we rejoice that the Gospel 
is in any way preached and disseminated among us. 
But in its teachings it sometimes - introduces views 
entirely foreign to the Gospel— views purely Protestant, 
the production of the Reformers of the Sixteenth Cen- 
tury ; as for instance the justification by faith alone." 

Thus much of the article from the Orthodox Review^ 
and which may be considered rather favorable, was 
translated and copied into one of the missionary re- 
ports for the benefit of the society at home. The re- 
mainder of the article, which contained the pith and 
marrow of the Greek side of the question, was disposed 
of in the report by that delusive abbreviate, " etc., etc." 
I regret that my missionary friend should have treated 
his society so unfairly. It is by such concealments on 
the part of those whose duty it is to enlighten their 
countrymen at home, that mistakes in the missionary 
system are permitted to continue. The article in the 
Greek journal proceeds to state that the course adopted 
by some of the missionaries at Adiens " excites hatred 
among our own (the Greek) people against the Protest- 
ant Church at a moment when the Christian world 
verges towards reconciliation." A contrast is then 
drawn between the non-interference policy of certain 
missionaries who have preached and taught in Athens, 
and others who have effected harm rather than good. 



2 22 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

It is not a pleasant duty to make this record, but it 
seems nevertheless a duty in speaking of this subject at 
all, to present the views of the Greeks themselves, who 
are the party most nearly interested in the matter. 

In Greece, mo're than anywhere else, perhaps, be- 
cause of the susceptibility, suspicion and keen percep- 
tion of the native mind, it is of the highest importance 
that the life and conversation of the foreign missionary 
should be without a shadow of reproach. He must be 
self-sacrificing, unostentatious and afford no ground for 
the belief that he is seeking to derive any personal ad- 
vantages from the profession he has embraced. Ridi- 
cule is a weapon small and keen, which every Greek 
carries in his pocket, and it is the first instrument 
employed when occasion furnishes provocation. One 
thrust, well-aimed at the supposed insincerity of the 
foreign missionary, does infinite damage to the work in 
which he is engaged. Nor has the occasion, in the 
Greek point of view^, been wholly w^anting. Some years 
ago a printed caricature, exhibiting what were thought 
to be the salient points of character in two American 
missionaries, was exposed in the shop windows at 
Athens. One represented a stout, rubicund-visaged 
clergyman seated at a table on which were a large num- 
ber of bottles of wine. The other represented an 
elderly, lean-faced individual kneeling at prayer, with 
the object of his adoration — a well-filled money bag — 
in the clouds above him. The Greek Chaiivari once 
printed an imaginary conversation between a well- 



AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 223 

known American missionary and a Greek convert, 
which ran somewhat in this wise : Convert. — " Doctor, 
I have just seen, in an American journal, a statement 
from you to the effect that you had converted a large 
number of Greeks to the Protestant Episcopal faith. 
How is this ? I always thought that I was your only 
convert" Missionary. — " You are quite correct, but 
don^t you see that unless I made such representations 
I could not get money from the society at home for our 
great w^ork." I give only the words as they were re- 
peated to me, which are doubtless not verbatim et liter- 
atim ; but however incorrect in language or unjust in 
the inference, these attempts at humor indicate how 
quick the Greek is to discover any apparent point of 
vulnerability in the foreigner who sets himself up as a 
" guide, counsellor and friend," and how essential is the 
need of ^^ circumspection in all things '' on the part of 
the missionary of religion in foreign lands. If I may 
venture a step further, I w^ould express the opinion that 
if certain missionaries in various quarters of the world 
would put less coloring into the reports which they fur- 
nish to their societies at home, and be more willing to 
substitute naked facts for illusory statements, the friends 
of missions would be better able to judge of the condi- 
tion, the real condition, of the work for which they so 
cheerfully and liberally subscribe. There are two ways 
of drawing up a missionary report. The one is the 
familiar and attractive method of presenting the result 
of the year's labor, and is full of encouragement to the 



224 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



unsophisticated almoner who hstens to it in his cush- 
ioned pew thousands of miles away from the dreary- 
field of the missionary's labors. Such a report, judging 
from the specimens before me, might read as follows : 
" Through God's blessing I am enabled to report great 
progress during the past year. This is shown not so 
much in numbers as in the increased interest of the 
people of this benighted land in the work of evangeliza- 
tion. The Lord has graciously granted an accession 
of three communicants to our little flock. One, a ven- 
erable lady, who has experienced religion under circum- 
stances which give us full hope that the salvation of 
Christ is her portion hereafter. Two youths of tender 
years have accepted the hand outstretched to them, and 
have abandoned the vicious idleness of the street to at- 
tend our regular prayer meetings. The circulation of 
our weekly journal, the Banner of Love^ has increased 
from 480 to 560 copies. More funds are required to 
advance this important branch of our holy work, and I 
cannot too earnestly press upon the society at home the 
necessity for increased remittances for the ensuing year 
to meet the great and urgent wants of this mission. 
Pray for us." 

Stripped of cant and embellishments, the facts of the 
case might possibly have been presented in a report 
which would read as follows : " I regret to report to 
your society that, notwithstanding the liberal remittance 
of the past year and the donations received from trav- 
ellers, to whom I never fail to present myself on their 



AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 225 

arrival at the hotels, the work is most discouraging. 
This is not owing to the want of energy and watchful- 
ness on my part, but to the increasing desire of the na- 
tive population not to be interfered with in the religion 
to which they are accustomed and in which, it must be 
confessed, they find comfort and domestic peace. It is 
true that three individuals have nominally 'joined' our 
little church, but truth compels me to say that so far as 
honest conviction is concerned, I fear they have little if 
any. One is an old woman who came to me in great 
destitution for charity. I now employ her to wash the 
floor of the chapel and do other ' chores,' and she quite 
willingly consents to attend the Sunday preaching. I 
cannot say whether she would continue this salutary 
habit if I ceased to furnish her with the means of sup- 
port. Two small boys have also attended the church 
pretty regularly, but I can hardly form an opinion as to 
whether they receive the truths I expound, with a clear 
comprehension of their magnitude and efficacy, or if 
their chief inducemeilt is not to have an eye to the con- 
tinuance of the employment I have giverl them as dis- 
tributers of the Ba7iner of Love, We now print more 
copies of this paper than last year, but the excess is 
given away in the hopes of attracting paying subscribers. 
A conscientious regard for the interests of the society 
compels me to suggest that no more money be sent to 
this mission than is required for the distribution of the 
Scriptures among the poor, and for the establishment of 
schools and stated preaching, where no sectarian influ- 



226 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

ences shall be allowed to militate against the religious 
conviction of the people. I am persuaded that the real 
field for missionary operations is at our own doors, at 
home. If the money annually subscribed in our churches 
and sent abroad to " convert the heathen/' or the " Or- 
thodox" to Protestantism, was employed in cleansing 
the heart of our " Christian " cities from the poverty, 
filth and degradation which abound there, we should be 
doing God's service in a manner consistent with our first 
and most pressing moral obligation." 

Such an unvarnished exhibition of facts might, if 
presented, lessen the contributions in our churches for 
missionary work abroad, but it might more than make 
up for such deficiencies by affording pecuniary aid 
where it is most needed. So far as Greece is con- 
cerned, the real work of the missionary, if properly di- 
rected, cannot fail of good ; but the disturbing elements 
must first be corrected, or removed from the mission- 
ary's own door. Denominational antagonisms, and, 
worse than this, antagonisms in the same denomination, 
poison the fountain-head, and repel the thirsty soul who 
might otherwise be tempted to try the waters, though 
tendered by a foreign hand. Unless there can be some 
organized system introduced by which all the missiona- 
ries can unite on an equal footing and with a mutual 
understanding, it were far better that their labors in 
Greece should be confined to the mental education of 
the ignorant and needy. The schools, both for Greek 
and Cretan children, have been eminently successful 



AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 227 

under the charge of the American missionaries, male 
and female. One or two of these schools were founded, 
and under great discouragement, over forty years ago ; 
and have not only largely contributed to the general ed- 
ucation of the Greeks at home, but have sent forth 
teachers into Russia and the Turkish provinces who 
have themselves founded and conducted schools where 
the neglected populations stood greatly in need of them. 
Many Greek ladies in different circles of society in Ath- 
ens speak English fluently, having acquired the lan- 
guage at the school of one of our countrywomen, who 
still continues, at an advanced age, to supervise her ex- 
cellently conducted establishment. 

The Greeks are cognizant of, and not ungrateful for, 
the services rendered to general education by the mis- 
sionaries at Athens, and so soon as their confidence in- 
creases in the unselfish purposes of those who desire to 
enlighten them in religious matters, and they become 
convinced that the foreigner has no schemes directed 
against the Established Church, the work of foreign 
missions in Greece may receive an impulse from within 
the kingdom which would cause the vineyard to bear 
fruit somewhat in proportion to the labor expended 
upon it. 



BRIGANDAGE, 




BRIGANDAGE. 

GENTLEMAN of high classical attainments 
once wrote to me from London : " Greece 
appears to me to be little better than a land 
/ of ruins, beggars and brigands.^' This, doubtless, is the 
C_-, opinion of a large class of educated gentlemen, who, 
seated comfortably in their libraries, with Plutarch and 
Xenophon at their fingers' ends, take up the London 
newspapers to ascertain how far asunder from the great 
masters of the past are the feeble and indeterminate 
people of to-day. There, perchance, they read that 
Modern Greece " is notorious only for bankrupt bonds, 
Cretan insurrections, for lying fabrications by telegraph 
and letter, for piratical plundering and for brigand 
butcheries ;" or, that Greece is " the cave of Adullam 
and the refugium peccatorum ;" or, that "every card- 
sharper who is not a Jew is a Greek, and every Greek 
is supposed to be a cheat and a swindler; or, that 
"brigandage is one of the permanent institutions of 
that country ;" or, that " society is disorganized and 
foreigners are murdered just as they would be in Mur- 
zuk or Khiva;" or, that "in that Eastern nursery of 
Christianity, assassins are raised in the rough and fin- 
ished off afterwards as wanted, either as brigands, ven- 



232 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

ators, or simple foot-pads ;" or, that Greece is " geo- 
graphicallyj a part of Turkey; morally, a continuation 
of Hades ; socially, an offshoot of Soho Square ! The 
land is in the hands of the brigands ; the only law 
observed is the law of pillage ; the only king recognized 
is King Death."* It is only surprising therefore that, 
regarding his daily newspaper as the dispassionate ex- 
positor of indisputable facts, my correspondent should 
have arrived at the comparatively mild conclusion that 
" Greece is little better than a land of ruins, beggars 
and brigands." 

Of Grecian ruins something has already been said. 
Of Greek beggars — if my literary friend meant nation- 
al pauperism — I have also ventured upon a few words 
of elucidation. Of Greek brigandage I will content 
myself with embodying in this chapter, with some ad- 
dition and revision, a paper entitled " Remarks on the 
Causes and Condition of Brigandage in Greece," which 
was published by Congress with other Papers relating 
to the Foreign Relations of the United States, in 1870. 
It should be observed that these remarks are nothing 
more than they purport to be — an off-hand memorandum, 
not written for publication, and not rising to the dignity 
of a " dispatch " or " History of Brigandage," both of 
which titles have been applied to it by foreign journals. 

The exceptional and trying position in which Greece 
stands with respect to brigandage is not ameliorated by 
the diversity of views expressed by foreign Govern- 
* Extracts from London journals. 



BRIGANDAGE. 233 

ments and foreign journals as to its character and the 
means for its eradication. There is but one point of 
perfect unanimity, namely, that brigandage is an unmit- 
igated evil, and in this opinion Greece agrees with 
all the world. There is no public man, scholar, shop- 
keeper, or artisan in the kingdom who will deny that his 
country is disgraced and her interests injured by this 
plague-spot in their midst. Every Ministry, in turn, 
whatever amount of opprobrium is justly or unjustly 
cast upon it for inefficiency or corruption, honestly 
laments the existence of brigandage, and would heartily 
rejoice at its extinction. It is not, therefore, because 
Greece does not feel that it is an infliction that the evil 
is not removed. Only those who are the greatest suf- 
ferers by it comprehend the exact position of the case, 
and the difficulties which surround it. Some of these 
difficulties may be briefly stated. 

Brigandage in Greece is not the child of to-day ; it 
was born of Turkish oppression, when restless men fled 
to the mountains to secure the only independence 
vouchsafed them. Although the outlaw who now 
takes advantage of impenetrable defiles of the moun- 
tains to evade pursuit, is without that nobility of charac- 
ter which the ancient Kleft possessed, he has the same 
strategy and cunning, and from the same mountain 
fastnesses can defy the pursuit of any soldiers but 
those accustomed to the configuration of the land. 
Hence the absurdity of the proposition sometimes made 
by foreign writers, that marines from the ships of war 



234 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

stationed at Piraeus, or detachments of French or Eng- 
lish soldiers, should be sent into the mountains of the 
Morea and of Attica, to exterminate brigandage. An 
army might scour the kingdom and find not a single 
brigand. Even if it effected a surprise and brought on 
a conflict, more soldiers than brigands would probably 
fall, and the nucleus of the band would escape to 
reappear in some unsuspected locality, reinforced and 
more formidable than if they had never been interfered 
with. The brigands are wandering bands ; to-day in 
the Taygetus, to-morrow in the Parnes ; now alarming 
the peaceful farmers in Acarnania ; again threatening 
the excursionist in the public roads of Attica. From 
place to place they move with a rapidity acquired only 
by years of experience in a life which finds stimulus 
and excitement in the dangers which surround it. 

It is true that many of the bands are, so to speak, 
" localized *' in well-known spots. They are Imown, not 
only to the Government in name and person, but mingle 
at times freely with the people of the villages in their 
vicinity. They give money to the peasants, and from 
the latter receive warning and even protection in case 
of pursuit. 

Herein lies one of the chief elements of dif&culty in 
the question of brigandage. The peasants of a distant 
village, or the w^andering shepherds of Wallachia, who 
feed their flocks in Northern Greece, and who may be 
at any time intruded upon by these mountain outlaws, 
have no other choice but submission to their authority. 



BRIGANDAGE. 



235 



Certainly, to oppose it would be their worst policy ; re- 
venge in some shape would be certain to follow. They 
therefore treat them as friends ; supply them, if re- 
quired, with food ; and, to secure their own safety, 
never betray them. Thus a sort of forced fellowship 
exists between these two classes, and the brigand be- 
comes the patron of the harmless and industrious agri- 
cultural community. Oftentimes it happens that the 
brigand has relatives among the villagers, arid then the 
tie becomes indissoluble.* But the most serious com- 
plication is found in the undeniable fact that certain 
politicians have courted the favor of brigand chiefs to 
further their own ambitious ends. The leaders of bands 

* A veiy recent account in the Pall Mall Gazette states that 
bands of peasants are brought into Athens who have been com- 
pelled by the brigands to furnish them with provisions, etc. ; and as 
the lives of these unfortunate people are threatened when they do 
not comply with such requisitions, the Government only punishes 
them if they neglect to give information to the authorities. The 
nature of the territory, and the proximity of the Turkish frontier, 
cause great difficulties to the troops, and they frequently pass hidden 
caverns and the short thick bushes which cover the mountains with- 
out guessing that the brigands are in their immediate vicinity. . . . 
The shepherds and the peasants are obliged for their own security 
to warn the brigands of the approach of the troops on such occa- 
sions. This is done according to a well-developed plan ; they either 
throw stones with hieroglyphics upon them in places agreed upon 
beforehand, or lay down sticks upon which they cut certain marks. 
If a military detachment enters a village to make inquiries about 
the brigands, the peasants take their sticks and begin cutting marks 
upon them, in the first place to record the subject of the conversa- 
tion, and next to enable the brigands — some of whom are generally 
posted on a hill in the vicinity with excellent field-glasses — to ob- 
serve what is going on. 



236 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

inhabiting country districts and friendly to the people 
around them, and with whom, as has been explained, 
there exists a sort of mutual dependence, have been 
found extremely useful in seasons of political excite- 
ment. In certain provinces the candidate for election 
to the Chamber of Deputies may find it for his interest 
to keep on good terms with one who can with such 
facility do him good or do him injury. He knows that 
if he denoiinces the outlaw without the ability to crush 
him, he, his family, or his property will some time or 
other pay the penalty of this courageous step. He finds 
that he has nothing to gain and everything to lose by 
stirring in such a matter, and if he contents himself 
with simple neutrality, his political opponent, who is less 
scrupulous, will secure the brigand's services and win 
the day.' Few men in a community so recently emerged 
from foreign oppression and the worst condition of 
Oriental corruption are sufficiently independent and 
patriotic to shake off these contaminating influences. 
Thus it happens that the brigand, who in spite of his 
bad name, is practically known only in the community 
around him as a reckless and good-natured adventurer, 
influences his acquaintances and friends to vote for his 
patron. Nothing could be more demoralizing, nothing 
more humiliating to a free and self governing people. 
But until older and more enlightened nations are free 
from the disgrace of employing corrupt means to fur- 
ther political ends, the stone should be thrown lightly at 
the heads of the Greek people because some among 



BRIGANDAGE. 237 

them feed their personal ambition with such unlawful 
sustenance. 

If the politician and the peasant of the mountain 
districts find it for their interest or safety to bear with 
the outlaw, the landholder finds it equally the part of 
policy to conciliate him. The proprietor of an estate 
would be unworldly wise to expose his people to cap- 
ture and his property to robbery, by refusing to give 
bread and meat to a wandering band of suspicious 
characters who are reported by his servants to be con- 
cealed in his grounds. Still wiser is he if, by giving a 
few thousand drachmes per year to the leaders of bands 
who haunt the vicinity, he can secure permanent im- 
munity from danger. If he could rid himself and the 
country from this pest by betraying the brigands to the 
Government, he would surely do it ; but as it is by no 
means certain that the soldiers sent against them would 
be even partially successful, he prefers the alternative 
of discretion. This is why men known for their re- 
spectability and moral worth, in Athens and elsewhere, 
find themselves forced to do that which is nothing more 
nor less than an encouragement of one of the vilest of 
public crimes. The police annals of most cities will 
show^ that systems of blackmail are not confined to bri- 
gandage in Greece. A Greek law enacts that all those 
who in any way, directly or indirectly, contribute to the 
support of the outlaw shall be prosecuted and punished. 
In most cases it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, 
to prove the fact. From the very character of the 



238 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

transactions they are necessarily conducted with the 
greatest privacy. The party who pays the tribute will 
not betray himself, and the last man to violate the se- 
cret is the brigand, whose " code of honor " is stronger 
than the written law. 

It might be found, too, that the largest sums which 
find their way into the pockets of outlaws from such 
sources are paid, not by Greeks, but by foreigners 
whose pecuniary interests in Greece induce them to 
pay this easy premium on Hfe and property assurance. 
The more closely this matter is examined the more in- 
tricate is found to be the web of its solution. It is 
entwined about the political, social and commercial 
structure, and although repeatedly swept away, the cre- 
ative cause continues to exist in spite of judicial action 
and the ceaseless complaint of public opinion. 

The Greeks assert that brigandage has more than 
once been exterminated, and that nothing but the inef- 
ficiency of this Ministry or the complicity of that one, 
causes the reappearance of the scourge. Experience 
has shown, however, that political circumstances are 
more at fault than individuals in this matter. The bri- 
gand is a restless character, and danger and adventure 
have charms for him. A revolution at home, or the 
prospect of a war with the Turks, finds him on hand 
ready to join the mob in the city, or the army in the 
field ; and in case of conflict he will be found among 
the bravest of his fellows. So it happened that many 
of these men enlisted as soldiers to assist in the Cretan 



BRIGANDAGE. 



239 



insurrection, and others came down from the mountains 
during the late imbrogUo between Greece and Turkey, 
in the hope of finding profitable, or at least lawful em- 
ployment. With the disappearance of the war-cloud 
the brigand either returns to his mountain haunt, or for 
months hangs about the country with that mischievous 
indefiniteness of purpose which forbodes evil ; for his 
person is unsafe from arrest, and if he would, he could 
not with impunity take up any industrial pursuit. Such 
epochs are sure to be followed by open acts of brigand- 
age in different parts of the kingdom. When the pre- 
sence of bands is reported, the Government despatches 
troops in pursuit, with more or less success. Reports 
come in from time to time of a certain number of out- 
laws captured or killed at the expense of the lives of 
more qx less of the soldiers. The prisoners are lodged 
in jail, and in the course of time judgment is pro- 
nounced j but it not unfrequently happens that " exten- 
uating circumstances " are found to mitigate the pun- 
ishment of death. Executions occur at rare intervals, 
and then but few in number. There is a sentiment of 
pity to which justice at the last moment seems to defer, 
and in the popular mind an absurd halo of heroism sur- 
rounds the " mountain chieftain," which makes it an ig- 
noble act to take his life away in this summary manner. 
The glory of the ancient Kleft, the " brave defender of 
Ills country,'^ the "generous and courageous child of 
fortune," casts a pale reflection upon the mere mount- 
ain robber of to-day, and serves his turn when nothing 



240 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



else would. It is but just, in the consideration of this 
subject, to remove the erroneous idea which prevails in 
many minds, that the brigand is a bloodthirsty monster, 
reckless of human life, a wild wretch swooping like a 
bird of prey upon the defenseless traveller, to rob or to 
kill as may best suit the interests of the moment. A 
large proportion of the Greek outlaws were forced, or 
thought themselves forced, by circumstances, to take to 
the mountains to escape worse trials at home. A family 
quarrel, a homicide, the result of a drinking-house 
brawl, escape from arrest for some petty offence, deser- 
tion from the army and similar causes, have induced 
men, otherwise peaceable and well-disposed, to become 
brigands. The lust for gold, the temptation to obtain 
even a moderate fortune without the labor of toiling for 
it, and the mere love of adventure, have induced^others, 
who enjoyed good reputations in their village homes, to 
join their fortunes with those of some wandering band 
of outlaws. The disposition to shed blood is foreign to 
their purpose; but \\\€\x prestige is only preserved by 
taking the life of the captive if the ransom, or an equiv- 
lent to it, is not forthcoming. They bind themselves so 
to do by an acknowledged law, and so well is this un- 
derstood that the ransom is always paid by the friends 
of the captive, the amount being decided by negotiation, 
which, in some cases, requires many months. 

The brigand with a captive in his hands, is a very 
different personage from w^hat he is when divested of 
this tremendous implement of power. The transforma- 



BRIGANDAGE. 



241 



tion is one of the most marvelous of human experiences. 
From the abject wretch, hunted, and flying from the 
pursuit of justice, he immediately becomes master of 
the situation. The threats of the law are then as idle 
puffs of the wind, and his pursuers are the meekest of 
suppliants. He has but to demand, and however ex- 
travagant his demands, the friends of the helpless cap- 
tive generally feel themselves compelled to strain every 
effort and submit to every sacrifice to furnish the re- 
quired ransom. When such is the case, the mountain 
outlaw will not abate his terms until well satisfied by the 
most thorough investigation, of the utter inability of the 
other party to obtain the sum first fixed upon. To 
effect the release of a friend, brother, husband or 
father whose life depends upon the payment of a cer- 
tain amount of money, what indefatigable exertions will 
not be made by the distressed and terrified relatives 
and friends ! Their very nervous anxiety weakens 
their position and strengthens the attitude of the villain 
in his stronghold. He knows this and avails himself 
of it. His messengers are as safe from molestation as 
are those of the Sovereign himself, and the negotiation 
proceeds as regularly and with far more earnestness, 
than many a diplomatic counsel engaged in the adjust- 
ment of an international question. Should the brigand 
become impatient at any unlooked for delay in the pro- 
gress of the negotiation, he has but to issue a fresh 
threat or force the prisoner to write, by dictation, a des- 
pairing letter to his friends informing them of his im- 
II 



242 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

minent danger, to infuse fresh energy into the efforts of 
those who feel that a precious hfe must not be sacrificed 
because a few thousand drachmes more are difficult to 
procure. The cool deliberation which is essential to a 
satisfactory arrangement with regard to the amount of 
ransom, is generally wanting on the part of those who 
have to pay. Were it not so the brigand could often be 
outwitted and the captive released for a fraction of the 
sum demanded. The brigand's threats are only in- 
tended to operate on weak nerves, and if he becomes 
persuaded that the friends cannot or wall not pay 
another drachme he is only too glad to come to terms 
and rid himself of an encumbrance. When at last the 
ransom has been paid, the brigand chief takes an affec- 
tionate farewell of his enforced guest, often kissing him 
on both cheeks — in token of his " regard and inviolable 
friendship thenceforward '' — and having returned into 
his possession all articles of value found upon his per- 
son, has him safely conducted by a circuitous route to 
a locality from whence he can make his own way back 
to his home. 

As has been said, it is not for their interest, and 
it is contrary to their nature, to shed blood uselessly. 
It is equally for their interest to treat their captives 
well, to look to the condition of their health, and to 
create a favorable impression by contributing, so far as 
their mountain habits permit, to the comfort of the un- 
fortunate individuals who fall into their hands. All 
travellers who have had personal adventures of this 



BRIGANDAGE. 243 

kind to relate, speak of the rough kindness, if not def- 
erence, which they experienced during their captivity. 
In this and other respects, the Greek brigand is not to 
be placed in the same category with the desperadoes of 
Southern Italy, Sicily, Spain and Hungary. 

It is much easier to describe an evil than to suggest 
practicable remedies for its removal. That Greece will 
in the course of time rid herself or be rid of the inflic- 
tion of brigandage is highly probable. To do it speed- 
ily and efficiently requires an organization of power, 
the beginning of which can hardly be said to have com- 
menced. But even the greatest success in this way will 
not rid Greece of brigandage while the adjacent prov- 
inces, dependencies of Turkey, are known to swarm 
with these lawless rascals, whose character for ferocity 
is not to be compared with those of Greek nationality, 
and who enjoy a freedom of action denied to the brigand 
in Greece. 

There is an occasional movement of Albanian troops 
directed against brigandage, but it has heretofore borne 
no proportion to even the feeble efforts of the Greek 
Government to suppress the evil. Mr. Rangabez, now 
the Minister for Greece at Constantinople, was the Min- 
ister for Foreign Affairs at Athens in 1856, and was at 
that time influential in suppressing brigandage on the 
Turkish side of the border, by obtaining the substitution 
in Thessaly of regular troops in the place of those of 
the dheveiiagas^ " who used to dispense with the use of 
soldiers to the end that they themselves might pocket 



2M THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

the soldier's >fee.'' After that arrangement Greece was 
comparatively free from brigandage until the revolution 
of 1 86 1, when the old state of things appears to have 
returned ; for Mr. Rangabez has informed us that so far 
from fighting them, " the Turks permit the brigands to 
enter Greece without disturbance, and on their return 
afford them protection, or what is the same thing, per- 
mit them to enter the ranks. The Greek Government 
has for many 3^ears exhausted itself with vain represen- 
tations to the Porte as well as to the protectionary pow- 
ers against this condition of things.'' A correspondent 
of the Levant Herald^ an English journal published in 
Constantinople, wrote on the 19th of April last, that 
'' at that moment, in Thessaly, brigands held no less 
than twenty captured persons as hostages for ransom." 
This far worse conditition of the evil in the Turkish 
provinces explains one of the grand difficulties which 
the Greeks have to contend with, but it does not excuse 
successive Governments in Greece for the apathy which 
exists on this subject when it is not forcibly brought to 
their notice by outrages committed almost before their 
very eyes. It is one of those questions which, being 
not easy of management, they hope will, in time, correct 
itself. It is brought to the surface by party warfare, 
and is laid aside when its further agitation is unprofit- 
able. 

It is manifest that, to utterly exterminate brigandage 
in Greece, the work must begin in Turkey. Greece is 
the youngest of all the free nations, and has not yet 



BRIGANDAGE. 245 

thoroughly learned the elementary branches of political 
economy. Perhaps if she had fewer teachers she would 
advance more rapidly. Like all poor and struggling 
nations, she attracts attention by those defects in her 
political and social character which other nations con- 
ceal beneath an external prosperity. Thus, brigandage 
is prominent in Greece, while the same evil, in a far 
more offensive form, has for ages existed in Calabria 
and the Apennines. It is but lately that Count Gideon 
Buday, in an official report to the Government of Vi- 
enna, stated that the disclosures of brigands arrested in 
Croatia, in Hungary, " compromise more than one thou- 
sand persons, but all the suspected could not be ar- 
rested, as sufficient room was not to be found in the 
prisons, and fears are entertained that further investi- 
gation will gravely compromise an incredible number 
of influential persons, and lead to the discovery of 
facts of a nature to irritate public opinion." 

With a strong and independent Government, with a 
national guard to relieve the regular soldiers, with a 
thicker population, and with the facility of roads into 
the interior, brigandage, so far as it is confined to 
Greece proper, could be utterly exterminated. At pre- 
sent, there are long deserted places, which, to protect 
properly, would require more soldiers than there are in 
the kingdom. But even with these disadvantages, if 
there existed that potent voice of public opinion which 
is felt only where power is diffused among a people, no 
villainous bands of outlaws would dare to practise their 



246 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

enormities in Greece any more than did the ruffians in 
Cahfornia, after the people, in self-defence, took the 
law into their own hands. 



The little paper which has here been transcribed, 
excited a degree of attention in the East for which I 
was unable to account, except upon the hypothesis that 
it treated of a subject which had not heretofore been 
sufficiently examined to be understood. I have met 
with ten or twelve reprints and translations of this paper, 
and the Greek journals reproduced it with fulsome en- 
comiums, but I was not so blind as not to perceive that 
the touchstone of their gratification lay in the passages 
which placed upon Turkey the burden of responsibility 
for what is commonly designated as " Greek " brigand- 
age. Yet, what I felt compelled to say in this regard 
was certainly not calculated to remove the odium which 
rests upon the Greeks for allowing this plague-spot to 
extend its pernicious influence into political circles. 
One or two journals denied that brigandage and politics 
were in any way connected. On the other hand, lead- 
ing men of different political parties called upon me to 
express their thanks for what they were pleased to term 
" a just and unprejudiced exposition " of this national 
evil. There is hope of reform among a people when 
they admit the existence of corruption in their midst, 
and do not seek to palliate it with artificial reasoning. 

But if some of the Greeks, from ignorance of the 



BRIGANDAGE. 247 

real state of the case, were sensitive to the charge of 
pohtical corruption, the Philo-Turks of Constantinople 
were still less pleased at the suggestion, that if the evil 
of brigandage was to be rooted out at all, the work 
should be begun in the Turkish provinces. Even the 
American Minister at Constantinople, Mr, MacVeagh, 
was persuaded to say in a dispatch, that " it was quite 
generally felt there, outside the Greek colony that I was 
wholly mistaken in declaring that Greek brigandage 
^was born of Turkish oppression,' and in calling the 
thieves who followed it for profit, alike before and after 
the independence of Greece, ^ restless men who fled to 
the mountains for independence,' as well as my assump- 
tion that the work of freeing Athens from brigands 
must be commenced at Constantinople." My esteemed 
colleague had been but a few months at his post, and 
probably had not had time to examine the question for 
himself or to look into modern Greek history to ascer- 
tain the origin of brigandage in Greece. Had he done 
so he would have known that the Klepht was as clearly 
the offspring of Turkish domination as was the Greek 
war of independence itself. Had he read even recent 
writers on the subject, he would have known that " the 
Klepht is the descendant and successor of the brave 
Pallicor, who, impatient of the yoke, lived free upon the 
mountains, and seized every occasion to annoy the 
enemies of his country and avenge her ;" * and that " it 

* La Turkic ou La Grece, pour faire suite a la brochure, intitu- 
lee ' La Solution de la Question D'Orient.' Paris, 1867. 



248 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

was the intolerable system of crapulous tyranny of the 
Moha77iedan barbarians which first forced the most 
spirited, the most brave, and the most patriotic men of 
the Greek nation to become outlaws. From the pre- 
cipitous ranges of Ossa, Olympus and Pindus, the 
Klephts of old defied their oppressors, and there kept 
the traditions of their nationality vivid, and the love 
for their freedom burning, until the time arrived when 
those bands became the chief instrument of their coun- 
try's liberation." * Professor Felton, the author of 
" Greece, Ancient and Modern," an excellent authority, 
says : " The Klephts were wholly independent during 
the Turkish dominion. Under the leadership of their 
captains, who bore a strong family likeness to the per- 
sonages of the heroic age, they seized every oppor- 
tunity of dashing down upon Turkish villages and 
camps, killing and plundering^ and climbing back again 
to their rocky habitations before the enemy could rally 
for pursuit, t The Klephts served an admirable pur- 
pose in keeping alive the heroic qualities of the race, 
when the degraded despotism of the Turks had else- 
where crushed them out of existence. They rendered 
brilliant services in the glorious struggle for liberty, 
notwithstanding the propensity to indiscriminate plun- 
der which their way of life naturally developed and 
strengthened. They have given some trouble to the 
regular governments under Capo d'Istria and King 
Otho." % 

* J. Gennadius. \ Vol. i. p. 262. % Vol. ii. p. 406. 



BRIGANDAGE. 



249 



The brigand of to-day, as I have stated, is a degen- 
erate issue of this stock. The ancient Klepht, ahhough 
a robber and a murderer, had a national purpose to 
subserve. The brigand of to-day hves the same hfe and 
carols the same patriotic songs, but he is simply a base 
miscreant, without the shadow of an apology for his 
crimes, and should be shot down whenever met with as 
a man would shoot a tiger on his path. 

As it is well known that the Turkish provinces adja- 
cent to Greece have been and are the abiding place of 
brigands who, after committing depredations in the 
latter country, find a quasi protection in the former, it is 
very certain that the work of extirpation should com- 
mence where these outlaws find concealment, nay, 
where they are frequently permitted to remain without 
molestation, when their place of concealment is known 
to the local authorities. A well known French engineer, 
who was engaged in the month of March, 187 1, in sur- 
veys for a railway, wrote to me that he and two of his 
companions saw the Greek troops attack a party of 
brigands near Lamia and drive them over the frontier, 
where they were peacefully allowed to pursue their way 
before the very eyes of a body of Turkish soldiers. 

That there has been great laxity, not to say guilty 
supineness on the part of the Turkish authorities in 
this matter of the pursuit of brigands, even under cir- 
cumstances where the opportunity for pursuit was most 
favorable, does not seem to admit of a doubt, and even 

the British Government has felt compelled to request 
II* 



i?5o ' THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

the Turkish Government to " do all in their power to 
assist the Greek authorities in the suppression of brig- 
andage." * Mr. Erskine, the English Minister at Athens, 
informs his Government that "it would appear that 
there is not much to ehoose between Greece and Tur- 
key on the score of public safety, and that if less is 
heard of the atrocities committed beyond the border, it 
is due in some measure to the fact that the Ottoman 
authorities are naturally interested in concealing them, 
and there is no free press, as in • Greece, to give pub- 
licity to the truth." 

Since the massacre of the foreigners in Greece 
there have been more energetic measures on the part of 
both Governments to cause military action against brig- 
andage. Indeed, for a time, there was actual rivalry 
between the Greeks and the Turks to report the largest 
number of brigands killed by each, and the " officials" 
of the Prime Minister at Athens and of the Grand 
Vizier at Constantinople showed more eagerness to de- 
preciate the statements of each other, than to offer 
mutual congratulations on the successful accomplish- 
ment of so good a work. The Turkish Minister an- 
nounced that during the nine months following the 
aifair at Delissi, near Marathon, the Ottoman troops 
had captured nineteen brigands and killed thirty-four 
others who had sought a hiding-place on that side the 
frontier. \ This indicates a realizing sense of the re- 

*^ Earl Granville's Dispatch, October 27, 1870. 
f Ibid. November 9, 1870, 



BRIGANDAGE. 



251 



quirements of the situation and furnishes additional 
support to the assumption that in the territory where 
fifty -three of these wretches had been found seeking 
conceahnent others may be found and killed. 

As piracy, another offspring of Turkish oppression, 
has been swept from the Greek Archipelago, so, by 
combined and ceaseless action on the part of the Turk- 
ish and Greek authorities, brigandage may become a 
thing of the past. 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 



EOUT the middle of April, 1870, there might 




have been met in the streets of Athens a 
certain gentleman who, from his fine physi- 
cal type, would readily be recognized as an English- 
man. Like many of his countrymen, he had come to 
Greece as a simple tourist, and was accompanied by 
his wife and a young friend, Mr. Vyner, who was related 
to them by marriage. At the period spoken of, Lord 
Muncaster had completed the object of his visit to 
Athens, and in the ordinary course of events should 
have been on his way to other countries. Why did he 
linger ? He was in the enjoyment of perfect health, he 
was a man of property, and he possessed all the advan- 
tages of social and titled distinction. Yet this gentle- 
man, who had done no man any wrong, who had com- 
mitted no breach of the peace, or rendered himself 
amenable to justice by the violation of any law, was a 
prisoner in Greece — a prisoner en parole — pledged to 
return to captivity if he failed to fulfil, certain condi- 
tions, as strongly as if his free limbs had been bound 
with shackles, and his person guarded by officers of 
justice. To whom w^as he thus bound ? To any civil, 



256 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

judicial, or military authority? To any power in his 
own land or in the kingdom of Greece which had the 
right to enforce such restraint upon his individual life 
and liberty ? No. This free Englishman, gentleman, 
and noble lord was walking the streets of Athens in the 
sunny days of April, a prisoner to the chief of a band 
of brigands secreted in the wooded mountains, miles 
away from the capital. The King of Greece was on his 
throne; his Majesty's ministers sat in council; the 
British legation swayed with almost despotic power the 
will of a government keenly alive to the lawful rights of 
every absent subject of the realm ; and the ships of war 
of England, France, and Russia lay as usual, ready for 
service, in the neighboring harbor of the Piraeus. Yet, 
for all their panoply of power, these were as impotent 
as reeds shaken by the wind, before the imperious will 
of a rascally outlaw, clad in a filthy fustanelli, and is- 
suing his decrees in illiterate Greek from his inaccessi- 
ble mountain throne. 

The situation seems incredible in this age of law, of 
railways and telegraphs, of international intercourse, 
and of free and powerful nationalities. Yet such was 
the situation. 

To give an account of the memorable act of brig- 
andage of April, 1870, with all its detail, conflicting 
testimony, and the judicial proceedings consequent 
thereon, would fill a volume, and, in many respects, 
might fail to interest the general reader. Briefly stated, 
the occurrence was as follows : 



258 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

On Monday, the nth of April, at about six o'clock 
in the morning, a party consisting of Lord and Lady 
Muncaster ; Mr. Herbert, secretary of the British lega- 
tion; Mr. Vyner, a brother of Lady De Grey; Mr. 
Lloyd, an English barrister, with his wife and their little 
girl of five years ; Count De Boyl, secretary of the Ital- 
ian legation, with an Italian servant and a Greek 
courier, left the hotel at Athens in two carriages, for an 
excursion to the batte-field of Marathon. There was 
nothing extraordinary in the fact of such an expedition, 
as hundreds of foreigners make it yearly, and no prep- 
aration is required on their part beyond a notification 
by the resident foreign minister to the authorities, who 
at once furnish a mihtary escort, free of charge. In 
this instance the carriages were preceded by two 
mounted gens-d'armes, and followed by two others. A 
detachment of foot soldiers and a patrol were met along 
the road, and in part accompanied the tourists. After 
spending two or three hours at Marathon they set out 
on their return to Athens at about two o'clock in the 
afternoon. As the party approached the bridge of 
Pikermes, twelve or fourteen miles from the city, they 
were suddenly fired at from the brush-wood bordering 
the road, and at the first discharge the two gens-d'armes 
in front fell from their horses, badly wounded. The 
carriages then stopped, and the whole party were com- 
pelled to alight. They found themselves surrounded by 
a band of brigands in the Albanian costume — ^jackets 
and fustanellis — armed with revolvers and muskets, and 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 



259 



numbering by count twenty-one persons, mostly young 
and athletic men. Some roughness was offered to Lady 
Muncaster, to hasten her movements from the carriage, 
and the brooch on her dress (subsequently returned to 
her) was torn from it, but, with this exception, no vio- 
lence was offered to any of the travellers. The cap- 
tives were immediately hurried up the side of the moun- 
tain — Pentelicus — the ladies and little girl being placed 
on the horses belonging to the wounded gens-d'armes, 
the rest being on foot, and the brigands surrounding 
their prisoners. As the party retreated up the moun- 
tain, a fire was opened upon them by the soldiers at not 
more than fifty yards distance, but as it became evident 
to their pursuers that a continuous attack would endan- 
ger the lives of the foreigners, the engagement was dis- 
continued, and the brigands with their prisoners made 
good their escape. After a rapid walk of two hours, 
during which, as Lord Muncaster told me, the brigands 
were exceedingly hilarious, dancing and laughing over 
the unexpected " catch " they had made of the " lordies," 
and talking with their prisoners, one of whom spoke 
Greek, in a manner w^hich disarmed fears of any per- 
sonal danger, the party came to a halt at the top of the 
mountain, and the ladies were informed by the chiefs 
that they and the little girl could return to Athens, as 
their longer presence was regarded as an impediment to 
the long marches and changes of locality which are es- 
sential to evade pursuit. These, consequently, retraced 
their steps, together with the coachmen, who were cap- 



26o THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

tured with the party, to the road, where the carriages 
had been left, and in which they returned to the city, 
arriving at a late hour the same evening. 

When the brigand chief parted with the ladies he 
asked one of them to send him from Athens a little 
souvenir of their brief but not wholly uninteresting ac- 
quaintance, in the shape of a gold chain. The lady, 
with no little presence of mind, demanded an exchange 
of souvenirs, whereupon his highness, the king of the 
mountain, presented her with a silver ornament having 
for a design the head of the Virgin. The chain was 
duly sent to the brigand, who returned it by the same 
messenger as not being sufficiently heavy ! When Lord 
Muncaster was subsequently released en parole^ one of 
the chiefs kindly requested his lordship to take his 
watch to Athens, have it repaired, and sent back to 
him. 

The ladies were the bearers of notes from the gen- 
tlemen of the party with the terms of the ransom, which 
were fixed at ;^3 2,000 sterling (subsequently reduced to 
;^2 5,000). The brigands also sent a threatening mes- 
sage to the Greek government at Athens, to the effect 
that if any attempt was made to send soldiers in pursuit 
or to alarm the country, the lives of the foreigners would 
be in danger. 

The consternation produced in Athens by the news 
of the capture pervaded all classes, and from that hour, 
about nine in the evening of Monday, little else was 
talked about in the ever-talking capital, the interest in- 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 261 

creasing in intensity as the days went by, and the fate 
of the prisoners became more and more the subject of 
anxious speculation. 

The news of the capture was soon followed by full 
information as to the character of the band. It origin- 
ally consisted of twenty-eight brigands, almost exclu- 
sively natives of Turkey (Vallachs), speaking the Greek 
language, and inhabiting Thessaly. The chiefs were two 
brothers, Takos and Christos Arvanitaki. " It pene- 
trated into the province of Phthiotis from the Turkish 
frontier near the middle of January, the news producing 
in Athens the greatest alarm. The band was soon dis- 
covered and attacked by a flying column of the Greek 
soldiers at Lividia, who wounded and captured one of 
the outlaws, the rest effecting their escape. After three 
days' flight they encamped at a place called Paralimni, 
where, perceiving at a distance another Greek military 
detachment, they again fled. Near Thebes the soldiers 
came up with them, and succeeded in killing three more 
and taking two wounded prisoners." The remaining 
twenty-one were subsequently traced from place to place, 
but eventually secured retreats in the mountains of 
Megira, and were not again heard of until the early part 
of April, when they suddenly appeared in the environs 
of the village of Pikermos, on the road to Marathon, 
and committed the act of brigandage of which I now 
speak. 

It appears also that on the very morning of the cap- 
ture, a single carriage containing Americans passed 



262 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

within view of the brigands from their place of conceal- 
ment, but it turned off toward Kephissia, and was al- 
lowed by them to pass, they being ^attracted by the two 
carriages a short distance behind, which they naturally 
presumed to contain a more valuable prize. 

At the time of this capture the King, Queen, and 
Court, with the Prime Minister, were making an excur- 
sion among the Greek islands. His Majesty was met 
with the sad news on his return to the Piraeus, and from 
that moment did all that lay in his royal power to for- 
ward the necessary measures for the release of the pris- 
oners, even expressing his willingness to the English 
minister to place his own person as a hostage, if neces- 
sary, to secure the lives of the foreigners. 

About noon on the third day after the capture. Lord 
Muncaster made his appearance at Athens, having been 
released by the brigands en parole^ in order to obtain the 
ransom-money, " or a free pardon," for the brigands. 
There was, of course, no loss of time in arranging for 
the money, and the amount of ;^2 5,000, in gold coin, 
was packed in boxes ready at the bank for delivery, 
when an unexpected turn was given to the affair by a 
message from the brigand chief to the effect that they 
would accept nothing less than the " money and am- 
nesty," viz., a free pardon for themselves and the pre- 
viously captured members of the band then in the prison 
at Athens. The following correspondence between the 
chief of the brigands and the British minister at Athens 
will serve to show the lawless audacity of power on the 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 263 

one side, and the utter subserviency of mere official au- 
thority, when placed against it : 

LETTER FROM THE BRIGANDS. 

(Translation^ 

" The gentlemen are very well ; but as to that Which we agreed 
with the gentlemen concerning the ransom of ;^25,ooo, we demand 
of the Hellenic government amnesty, and that pursuit of us shall be 
stopped, not only in Attica but in all the provinces. For if we dis- 
cover that we are pursued, the gentlemen will be in danger. We 
wait for your answer to-morrow without fail." 

LETTER TO THE BRIGANDS. 

( Translation?) 

** The English and Italian Ministers have received your commu- 
nication. There will be no difficulty as to the payment of the 
money, but you must not insist on an amnesty which government 
have not the power to grant. Persons will be sent to treat with 
you, and in the mean time both the King and the president of the 
council have assured the English Minister that you shall not be 
molested. Make your prisoners as comfortable as you can. You 
can even put them under cover in some rural habitation without any 
fear. E. M. Erskine," 

Emissaries were accordingly sent on the part of the 
Greek government and of the English Minister at 
Athens to induce the brigand chiefs to modify their 
terms, as it was not only unconstitutional, but impos- 
sible, to grant a free pardon without a trial; and they 
were urged by letter, and by verbal entreaty and argu- 
ment on the part of the messengers sent, as well as by 
the prisoners themselves, to accept the money with the 
guarantee that they should not be interfered with in 



264 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

their retreat to the frontier. Furthermore, they were 
promised, if they apprehended danger in that quarter, 
that a British gun-boat should be placed at their dis- 
posal to land them and their ill-gotten gains at Malta or 
any other point of her Majesty's dominions. Such 
terms, such concessions, such humiliating prostration 
of justice at the feet of vulgar villainy, are probably 
without a parallel. The chiefs, were, however, obsti- 
nate, made the more so by letters and messages from 
their " koumbaroi,'' or companions outside, advising 
them " to be firm," and their demands would eventually 
be granted. While these anxious and unsatisfactory 
negotiations were going on between the Greek govern- 
ment and the English and Italian Ministers on the one 
side, and the brigand chiefs in their mountain retreats 
on the other, the condition of the unfortunate foreigners 
in their hands was not improving. They were moved 
about from place to place ; and although the brigands 
appear to have treated them with all the courtesy of 
which their nature is capable, and to have provided, so 
far as their rough life permitted, for the physical well- 
being of the prisoners, allowing them also to correspond 
continuously with their friends in Athens and receive 
food and clothing from them, yet they suffered greatly 
from their forced marches, exposure to rain and cold, 
and from their ceaseless mental anxiety, which was in- 
separable from their condition. Yet all was not hope- 
less to them. They had many days of fine weather, and 
a degree of cheerful diversion, as appears from the let- 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 265 

ters of Mr. Herbert and the note-book of Mr. Lloyd. 
In the former appeared such passages as these : 

" We are tolerably comfortable here for the present." " I do 
not think we are very unhappy, although things are not exactly 
comfortable. The captain says he is going to mass to-morrow in 
the village church with all his band, and, as at present arranged, 
we are allowed to go too, which will be a very strange thing. The 
captain says he will throw away his gun at once if he could get par- 
doned." " We are well and kindly treated, and shall be so as long 
as the captain believes, as he still does confidently, that the govern- 
ment will find some means of granting him amnesty or pardon for 
all past offences." 

Mr. Lloyd also writes : " We are well treated, but 
very anxious." 

The intimation that the foreigners would be allowed 
to go to church was, " strangely enough," as Herbert 
says, fully carried out. On Palm Sunday, the 17th of 
April, the brigands, with their prisoners, descended 
from the " Vallach village," where they were then en- 
camped, to the Church at Oropos, where, stacking their 
arms outside, the whole party entered and attended the 
service, mingling freely with the village people ! And 
here in this church occurred a little incident which I 
have never seen mentioned in print, but which illus- 
trates the hopefulness of the affair at the time. A 
Greek lady, wife of a merchant in Manchester, Eng- 
land, happened to be at the church service on that day, 
and was so moved by the appearance of the prisoners, 
especially of young Vyner, that she resolved to make 
an appeal to the brigand chief in his behalf, represent- 



2(i(i THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

ing his inoffensive character, his absence from his wid- 
owed mother, and other points calculated to awaken an 
interest in his fate. The brigand listened very patient- 
ly as the good lady spoke to him in the church porch, 
and then laughingly replied to her in words to this 
effect : ^' Do not distress yourself, madam ; they will all 
be free in a few days." That they all would have been 
free, had a different policy been adopted by those in 
charge of the matter, there now appears to be little 
doubt. 

The extracts from Mr. Lloyd's note-book are of 
such melancholy interest, notwithstanding the brief and 
fragmentary character of the entries, that I will copy 
them here, as throwing some light on the condition of 
the poor prisoners, and the nature of brigand life : 

''''Monday^ April 1 1, 1870, 4.30 P. M. — Cold, mist, rain, 6 P. M. to 
5.30 A, M. Wood of Ruplimi, captured by band of Arvanitaki. 
Night on Pentelicus. Language lesson to brigands. Supped on 
mountain 2 A. M. Reached first Shemena in Stamata; little copse 
on hill-side ; discussion of terms with brigands. Spend the day. 
Sixteen soldiers passed along the road below in the afternoon. 
Alarm of all parties. 

" Tuesday 8 P. M. to 6 A. M. — Left after dark along high-road 
toward Kephissia. Halt in plain. Alarm of parties near. Brig- 
ands surround us, ready to shoot. Sleep on thorn-bush. Resting- 
place in pine wood. Very wet and cold. Brigand warms Dor- 
mouse [Mr. Vyner] by lying down close to him. Roused at dawn, 
and go to other pine wood a short way off for the day. 

" Wednesday. — Day in pine wood. Heavy rain. Caught two 
peasants, and borrowed their capotes for us. Lighted fire for toast 
and broiled lamb. Sent off peasant with Muncaster at 9 A, M. 
After dark moved off to hut of peasants for night. DeBoyl's ser- 
vant came with grub. 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 



267 



" Thursday. — Brigand reads two hours history — Keramide St. 
John. Rainy and cold. Hut 60 x 20 : our end badly closed by pine 
branches. Fires, but hard to keep warm. Roast lamb again and 
more presents of liver. Evening came Dionys and agents from 
Athens. Scene by night — negotiating at one end, feasting at ours. 
Warmer at night with my oil-cloth from Polly. 

" Friday, 8 A. M. to 7.30 P. M. — Veiy fine day, and view of 
Mount Delphi, in Euboea, covered with snow. Left at 8 A. M., 
seven brigands, self on mule, Herbert and DeBoyl on white horses. 
Dormouse on brown, without saddle. Baggage horse. Other brig- 
ands to follow. Pass wood of Tatoe ; defile. Magnificent view over 
Athens, W., Euboea, E. Halt almost in sight of guard-house to 
breakfast. By pass of Decelea, 3000 feet above the sea. Guard- 
house ; fraternize with four soldiers. Alarm on descending to 
plain. Alexander sent on with Erskine's note to troops seen below. 
Peace. Officer lunches with us and brigands. Across plain and 
through fine wooded country, Marco Poulos. Received by De- 
march, and generalfraternization with Albanian inhabitants. Fresh 
eggs. Reached village of Vallach shepherds. 

^'■Saturday. — Coraki. Village twenty-five huts; shared one 
with chief and five brigands, circular, 30 x 20 diameter. Five in mid- 
dle ; people make everything for selves ; spinning and weaving^ 
Hut pretty warm. Walked up to Acropolis ; cloudy. View over 
Oropos, village of La Scala, and house of Paparigo Poulos. Two 
agents from Athens. Dance of brigands. 

" Sunday. — Down to church in morning. Blessing of palms ; had 
one. Visit to Demarch and house of Pap.; coffee and raki ; friend- 
ly meeting. Demarch to goto Athens to negotiate. 

'' Monday. — Jumping and throwing stone by brigands very good. 
Music at night — -singing and fluting. Evening came Dionys and 
Grisner, who slept. 

" Tuesday. — Servants left. Afternoon marched over to Oropos ; 
good house, room with fire-place, and seven brigands. Fine day, 
and pleasant half hour's walk. 

" Wednesday. — Very rainy. Colonel Theagenis come to treat ; 
also Noel, who stopped all night. Long discussion as to terms. 

" Thursday. — Messenger, from Athens. Armistice partly with- 
drawn. Troops en cordon. We not to move. Chief says he will 
go to a place a quarter of an hour off, on Ocyoupos. Know troops 



268 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

are in force ; clanger impending. Love to I and Erskine, in 

worst case. Noel left early. Fine view of mountains in Euboea. 
Covered with snow from Delphi to N." 

During these days the greatest anxiety filled the 
public mind at Athens, and induced on the part of those 
who had taken the matter in hand a degree of persever- 
ing activity and vigilance which leaves no room for cen- 
sure so far as a conscientious discharge of personal and 
public obligation was concerned. None but those who 
watched the daily, I may say hourly proceedings, can 
form an idea of the difficulties of the position in which 
the Greek ministry and the two foreign representatives 
stood. In the case of the government, they found them- 
selves clothed with a responsibility which their relations 
to the governments of Great Britain and Italy and to 
the Greek nation could not exaggerate. They were 
called upon either to ignore all official recognition of 
the matter or to assume its control with or without the 
co-operation of the foreign legations, and with the al- 
most certain knowledge that, whatever might be the 
result, public opinion would be dissatisfied. The Greek 
government very wisely determined to admit into their 
counsels the two parties most nearly interested in the 
fate of their countrymen in captivity, and it may be 
said that from beginning to end of this most distressing 
case the English and Italian Ministers joined in, and in 
many instances directed, their counsel, no step being 
taken by the Greek governinejtt which was not either sug- 
gested or approved by the two Ministers whose countrymen 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 



269 



were airiong the captives. As regards their attitude 
toward the Greek people, and the difficulties they had 
to contend with in that direction, it is only necessary to 
say that the measures recommended by the Athenian 
journals, and by individuals who, without any personal 
responsibility, thought fit to proffer their advice, were of 
the most conflicting character. The government were 
told that they were no more responsible for an act of brig- 
andage than the Enghsh government would be for an 
agrarian outrage in Ireland, or an attack of ruffians in 
the purlieus of London ; and they were told that they 
were responsible, inasmuch as it was a national evil. 
They were told that to enter into negotiations with out- 
laws was to trample the crown in the dust and humiliate 
the nation beyond redemption ; and they were told that 
negotiation was the only proper course, and that better 
terms for the release of the foreigners could be enforced 
by the authorities than by individuals, who had no ex- 
perience in the treatment of such cases. They were 
told that the only way to deal with the rascals on the 
hill was to send an effective body of troops after them, 
release the prisoners and destroy the brigands; and 
they were told that such a course would insure the 
death of the captives, and by no means guarantee the 
capture of the brigands. They were told that the Eng- 
lish and Italian Ministers should have exclusive control 
of the matter, as the lives at stake were those of their 
countrymen, otherwise the whole blame of failure would 
be laid at the feet of the government ; and they were 



2yo THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

told that the EngUsh and ItaUan Ministers ought not to 
mix themselves up in the affair, but to leave it to the 
authorities. They were told that it was an international 
question, and that the representatives of all the Powers 
at Athens should be consulted ; and they were told that 
nobody should be consulted and nothing should be done, 
for that if left to themselves the brigands would arrange 
matters with their prisoners, and the whole affair would 
end as peaceably and quietly as other acts of brigand- 
age had terminated. As to the opposition, they had few 
such chances presented for attacks upon their adver- 
saries, and they were not slow to avail themselves of it. 
The shafts flew thick and fast from open platoon and 
from behind impenetrable breastworks of impersonality, 
and nothing was omitted which might embarrass the 
question and lead to the overthrow of the ministry. 
Not that there was any blood on these men's hands ; for 
until the last fatal move, which turned the comedy into 
a tragedy of terrible import, few imagined that the 
prisoners were in any actual personal danger, it being 
evident to the simplest mind that for the brigands to 
commit murder, without cause, in the face of such 
astounding odds as were offered in the ransom-money 
and free transportation to a place of security, would be 
an act of sheer insanity. 

But notwithstanding the conflict of argument, polit- 
ical abuse and irritating advice to which the Greek gov- 
ernment were exposed, few went so far as to counsel the 
granting of an amnesty to these wretches, which would 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 271 

not only have been a shameless violation of the consti- 
tution, but a virtual legaUzation of brigandage through- 
out the kingdom.* No Greek acquainted with the con- 
stitution of his country had the temerity to propose this, 
even as a dernier ressort. The honor of doing so was 
assumed by Lord Clarendon, Secretary of State for For- 
eign Affairs, who sent three messages by telegraph from 
the Foreign-office at London — subsequently confirming 
them by written dispatches to the English minister at 
Athens — empowering him to say to the Greek govern- 
ment that " her Majesty's government hoped that there 
woul-d be no hesitation in granting a pardon to the brig- 
ands rather than allow the lives of the captives, by demur- 
ring to do so, to be exposed to additional risk ; " and he 
declared " that the British government would not accept, 
as an excuse for the sacrifice of life, the plea that, even 
for its preservation, pardon could not be extended to the 
brigands," and "that her Majesty's government consid- 
ered that they were justified in calling on the Greek gov- 
ernment to consent to any measures for the release of 
the prisoners." These messages were not received at 
Athens until after the perpetration of the tragedy which 
ended the eventful history. What effect a continued 

\* " If amnesty had been granted to this band," says the Athens 
correspondent of the London Times, " it could not have been re- 
fused to the band of Spanos : and it is the general opinion that in a 
few weeks bank directors, ministers and men of substance would 
have been seized in the streets of Athens openly, with a threat that 
if pursuit should be attempted, or a ransom not promptly paid, the 
captives would be murdered." 



2^2 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

pressure of the English government might eventually 
have had, it is impossible to say, but most certainly brig- 
andage itself would have received an impulse by such 
an act of leniency as would have required half a genera- 
tion to have checked. At the request of his govern- 
ment the Greek minister at London, M. Brailas-Armeni, 
called upon Lord Clarendon to express " the great con- 
cern of his government at the capture of the English 
party by the brigands, and to explain to him the difficul- 
ty under which the Greek government labored in regard 
to the grant of an amnesty for which the brigands were 
appearing to hold out." M. Brailas said that " the pow- 
er of pardon vested by the constitution in the King of 
Greece extended only to political offences, and that the 
King could not interpose his authority to relieve persons 
from the penalty attaching to ordinary crimes.'^* Lord 
Clarendon replied to M. Brailas that " he could not ad- 
mit the validity of the constitutional objection stated by 
the Greek government to preclude them from granting 
a pardon to the brigands. . The Greek constitution had so 
frequently been violated by the government in regard to 
matters of internal administration, that he could not lis- 
ten to a plea founded on it as an excuse for not relieving 
the British subjects, whose lives were in imminent dan- 



* " The King has the right to pardon, commute, and lessen pun- 
ishments awarded by the courts of law, excepting those pronounced 
against ministers. He has also the right to grant amnesty, httt only 
in case of political crimes, under the responsibility of the ministers." 
— Article xxxix. of the Greek Constitution. 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 



273 



ger, by complying with the demands of the brigands for 
an amnesty as a part of the price for their surrender.'' 

It is a httle singular that while his lordship at the 
Foreign-ofiice was impressing upon the Greek govern- 
ment, in the name of her Majesty, the grave consequen- 
ces with which they might be visited in case the prison- 
ers were not rescued, even at the price of a violation of 
the constitution, the English minister at Athens was 
urging the brigand chief, by a written communication, 
not to insist upon an amnesty " which the government 
had not the power to grant," and Herbert, a prisoner in 
their hands, was explaining to the Arvanitaki that " the 
amnesty was impossible," and the secretary of the Brit- 
ish legation at Athens was saying the same thing in a 
letter published in the Levant Herald. Thus it would 
appear that the brigand chief, lying at his ease with load- 
ed musket beneath the sylvan shade of Mount Penteli- 
cus, and the English minister, sitting in his arm-chair at 
the Foreign-office in London, were the only " powers " 
in perfect accord as to the necessity for violating the 
constitution of Greece ! 

As the days rolled wearily on, and the preposterous 
demands of the Arvanitaki began to be accompanied by 
impatient threats, the emissaries gave up all hopes of 
accomplishing their mission, and the prisoners lost heart. 
Under these distressing circumstances the Greek gov- 
ernment, with the approval of the English and Italian 
ministers, determined to adopt a more stringent policy, 
and to try the effects of fear upon the outlaws. An ex- 



274 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

press promise had been made to the brigands that they 
should not be molested where they then were ; but when 
the former gave intimation that unless their terms were 
complied with they should move toward the frontier 
with their prisoners, it was decided to send a body of 
troops to form a cordon around the encampment, not 
for the purpose of attacking, but to prevent the removal 
of the band.* It was supposed that the soldiers, march- 
ing rapidly and stealthily forward, could accomplish their 
purpose before any suspicion of the movement induced 
a change of position on the part of the brigands. But 
the order was also given to " prevent " the departure of 
the band with their prisoners, should .they attempt it. 
Now for soldiers to " prevent " an enemy from making 
a retreat means action, and mihtary action against brig- 
ands with prisoners in their hands means death to the 
latter. Thus it appeared to me inevitable that the fail- 
ure of the troops to effect a perfect cordon would bring 
on an engagement with the brigands, to the imminent 
danger of the lives of the captives. The prisoners 
themselves seem to have anticipated the result of a mil- 
itary movement, as appears in the following passages 
from notes written by some of them only the day before 
the fatal ending, but which were not received at Athens 
until an hour or two of the time when the frightful drama 
was being enacted. 

* " I have repeatedly assured your lordship that there was never 
the slightest intention on the part of the Government of attacking 
the brigands." — Erskhie' s dispatch to Ctai'endon, 



M 



THE BA^^qPi:*: NEAR MARATHON. 275 

Mr. Herbert writes with that Christian fortitude and 
gentleness of character for which he was distinguished : 

" If things do not look bright, I do not see that they can be al- 
tered, so that we have but to make the best of them. If the gov- 
ernment could grant those terms, I believe we should be all right. 
If not, our only chance is that when they know the troops are sent 
out in force in Boeotia they may wish to save their lives. For the 
present I do not think we run much risk unless we meet the soldiers, 
and in that case we shall have the satisfaction of believing that they 
will not go unpunished. But the captain desires me to say that he 
considers any movement of troops against him a violation of the 
written promise given him by you, which said he should not be mo- 
lested, without adding any thing about Attica. He seems to think 
himself entitled, so long as he treats us well, to take us where he 
pleases ; but there must, of course, be some limit to this. At pres- 
ent we are on the frontiers of Boeotia, and I believe the captain's 
wish is to move a little nearer Thebes — that is, to get nearer to a coun- 
try he and his band know better than they do this. The captain de- 
sires me to say that since he has seen Colonel Theagenis's orders he 
does not feel himself safe even here, and requests a further assur- 
ance from you, in writing, as to where they are safe, and for how 
long." 

At the same time Mr. Llyod wrote to Lord Muncas- 
ter: 

'' With respect to the movements of the troops, you must re- 
mind Mr. Erskine that the undertaking on the part of the govern- 
ment was that the brigands should no: be molested as long as they 
were with them. If their march is now interrupted, they may have 
a right to complain of a breach of faith, for which we shall most un- 
doubtedly and irremediably suffer. 

" The great thing is to gain time for negotiations, and not to hur- 
ry to an open conflict. I have suggested what I can to that effect, 
and leave it in your hands and those of our friends in Athens to do 
the best for us. You must not rely much on pressure to persuade 
these men to our terms." 

Later in the day came another note from poor Her- 



276 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

bert, which clearly shows that the military movement 
was, at least, premature : 

*' I think he " (the brigand chief) " has some grounds for saying 
he ought not to be attacked after the promise made to him, though 
obviously that promise could not be meant to be without limits. He 
is evidently getting more disposed to negotiate than he was, and I 
think, if he is not molested for the next week or two, he will come 
to some terms, could the armistice be prolonged for a little time, and 
limited, perhaps, to Bceotia or Attica, or to the neighborhood of 
Thebes and Chalcis, although the latter designation is, perhaps, too 
vague. We are to move to-day, but only to a village a quarter 
of an hour distant on the other side of the river, and I do not sup- 
pose we shall be attacked there." 

The village to which Herbert referred is Sykami, a 
hamlet, and the river between it and Oropos, where the 
brigands then were, is the classic Asopus. They can be 
found on any general map of Greece, and they will ever 
be of peculiar interest now in the light of the melancholy 
events which I am narrating. The road is lined, and 
the spaces on either side are thick with brushwood, 
through which, avoiding the open road, the brigands 
proceeded with their prisoners on the afternoon of April 
the 2ist. Before the start on that day, young Vyner ad- 
dressed the following touching letter to his friend Lord 
Muncaster, at Athens. It can not be read without emo- 
tion by any who appreciate the horrors of the situation 
in which he was placed, or who were acquainted with the 
manly presence and nobility of character of this unfor- 
tunate young Englishman. The letter did not reach 
Athens until after the news of the fatal tragedy which 
followed. 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 



277 



" The messenger has arrived, and has, in conjunction with Noel, 
had a lengthened interview with the chief. The result is unfavor- 
able. The chief has said to Noel that he will keep us safe for three 
or four months ; but, of course, the soldiers being set loose has 
done away with our security, and on the first engagement with the 
troops we must die, for they will kill us at once. . . .There is one 
thing they would agree to, namely, that a formal trial should be 
held here, and that they should be pardoned afterward. This does 
not seem illegal. Thank the King and his ministers on my behalf 
for their kindness, and say that I do not ask (for I am powerless to 
do that), but that, as a dying man, I implore them humbly to grant 
this request of the brigands, and to prevent the operations of the 
soldiers ; as, if not, we must die in a day or two, besides the need- 
less bloodshed that would ensue. The government official regards 
our position as beyond all hope, so that we must trust to God that 
we may die bravely, as Englishmen should do. . .Pray for your un- 
fortunate but affectionate friend, 

Frederick Vyner." 



It is said that when the news of the death of Vyner 
was communicated to the brigand chief Takos, he shed 
tears. The young Englishman had won tlie friendship 
of the chief during his captivity, and the two had some- 
times engaged in athletic sports — running, throwing the 
quoit, etc. 

From the various accounts of the occurrences which 
followed I select a portion only of that of the English 
commander, Hotham, who officially visited the locality 
a short time subsequent to the tragedy, and obtained 
his information from personal observation and conver- 
sation with the peasantry, avoiding, as he did, the con- 
sideration of military details, as my purpose is to give 
only a general idea of the principal events bearing upon 
the massacre of the foreisrners. 



278 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

" A Greek gun-vessel being at anchor in the Scala of Oropos, 
and also the fact of a person having come from the troops about 1 1 
A.M. of the 2istof April, and also, perhaps, what passed at an in- 
terview with Colonel Theagenis and Mr. Noel, seemed to have 
made Takos decide upon quitting Oropos for wSykami. His prison- 
ers tried to persuade him to reinain at Oropos, and he seems to have 
half promised them to return thither in three days' time. From 
what I can learn, the brigands had no idea that the troops were so 
near, and I understand that they constantly walked about when in 
Oropos without arms. 

" Takos and Christos Arvanitaki, his brother, seem to have 
differed (after the interview with Mr. Noel), the former wishing to 
accept the ransom alone, but Christos objecting to such a proceed- 
ing, on the ground that if they did so without any amnesty, they 
would be immediately hunted down and killed. 

" On the 19th and 20th of April, Takos seems to have been kind 
in manner toward his prisoners, but changed after his meeting with 
Colonel Theagenis. It was then he seemed to take an angry tone, 
to which, on the morning of the 21st, was added suspicion, he per- 
mitting no one to leave the village of Oropos without satisfying him- 
self of their destination and business. About 2.20 P. M. of that 
day the brigands left Oropos for Sykami in two parties, each within 
five minutes of the other, the robbers saying ' good-by ' to the 
inhabitants, and telling them they would be back on the next 
Sunday. 

" The prisoners appear to have been much distressed on leaving 
Oropos. No soldiers at all were seen from Oropos on the 21st, but 
after the prisoners and brigands had gone about one hundred yards 
from that place a policeman in disguise arrived in the village, and 
almost immediately left again in the direction of Kako-Salessi. 

" The band and prisoners arrived at Sykami between half past 
three and four o'clock, having been delayed a long time crossing the 
river Asopus, owing to a heavy freshet. After they had been in the 
village from a quarter to a half an hour, the sentries posted on the 
hill above, seeing the troops coming down over the range on the op- 
posite side of the river, gave the alarm, shouting out some word, the 
meaning of which I could not get accurately translated into English, 
but which would seem to imply, ' We are betrayed,' or surrounded. 
Takos, his band, and prisoners immediately started off toward Deli- 
sie, taking with them thirteen peasants, who all managed soon to 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 279 

escape. I can only surmise that the carrying away of these men 
was to prevent the troops firing upon them. 

. " About a quarter of an hour after the brigands had left the vil- 
lage, the troops crossed the river, some at the ford of the village, 
others further up. The brigands then seem to have taken the most 
direct course for Delisie, only once diverging toward the sea, proba- 
bly with the intention of retracing their steps through the valley of 
the Asopus, and so baffling their pursuers. In the last gully before 
reaching the plain of Delisie, the body of Mr. Herbert was found, 
about 300 yards from the beach, and 600 from the large house at 
Delisie. It was lying ten yards from the foot-path leading up the 
ravine into the bush. The country round here is covered with 
small thick brush-wood — arbutus and small pine. The body was 
lying face downward on a small bush, and when discovered he was 
not quite dead, but expired almost immediately. This spot is visi- 
ble directly over the spur from the house at Delisie. 

" In a parallel line to the sea, about 400 yards from Mr. Her- 
bert's body, they dispatched their second victim, Mr. Edward Lloyd. 
He also was lying on a small bush, quite dead. This must have oc- 
curred at about 4.45 p. m. Here the robbers divided, one party, under 
Takos, taking the remaining prisoners (Mr. Vyner and Count DeBoyl), 
choosing -the path leading to Skimitari; the other band, under 
Christos (who was shortly afterward killed), keeping parallel to the 
beach. Following Takos's party up the valley they seem to have 
abandoned the idea of going to Skimatari, and turned so as to leave 
that place on their left, making toward Deamisi. About a mile 
after leaving the valley, four miles from Delisie, and about three 
from Skimatari, was discovered the body of Mr. Vyner, and 
at 100 yards northeast of him lay the murdered Count DeBoyl. 
They must both have been killed just before dark. Very shortly 
after this occurrence all pursuit was stopped by night coming on 
with heavy rain." 

With the death of these noble victims immediate in- 
terest in the event may be supposed to end. I will, in 
the briefest manner, touch upon a few points. The 
question of who fired first— the brigands upon the sol- 
diers, or the soldiers upon the brigands — has never 



2 86 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

been satisfactorily settled, nor does it much matter. It 
is certain, however, that when the pursuing soldiers wit- 
nessed the death of the first victims (and they were dis- 
patched only when the brigands perceived that they 
could no longer keep pace with them in their flight), 
they could not restrain their indignation, and without 
waiting for orders, fired upon the brigands, and with 
impetuosity overtook and captured others. The result 
of the conflict was that seven of the brigands, including 
one of the brother chiefs, Christos Arvanitaki, were 
killed, and four^ — some of whom were wounded — were 
taken prisoners. Ten of the band, with the other chief, 
Takos, made good their escape over the frontier into 
Thessaly, from whence they originally came, the whole 
band, with two exceptions, being Turkish subjects. An 
English official report subsequently stated that the band 
" remained unmolested " at the village of Koitza, in 
the Turkish provinces. Since then it has been heard 
from in various parts of the country, and both the 
Ottoman and Greek governments have offered large 
rewards for the head of Takos, the daring leader of 
this band of miscreants, but every effort thus far to kill 
him has proved unavailing. His followers are faithful 
to their chief, and the chief himself is too wary to be en- 
trapped. 

The bodies of the unfortunate foreigners were 
brought to Athens, and received all the funeral honors 
which a heart-stricken community could pay them, the 
King in person walking in the procession, with the min- 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 281 

isters of state, civil and military officials, and the diplo- 
matic body in uniform. Such a sadly impressive dis- 
play was perhaps never before witnessed in Athens. 
The funereal pomp was overshadowed by the intensity 
of the public grief — grief mingled with a certain fear of 
the opprobrium, if not punishment which might be in- 
flicted upon Greece by a foreign power for the acts of 
foreign scoundrels on her soil. And the victims were 
worthy of the royal and civic honors paid to their muti- 
lated remains. They died, as the noble Vyner fore- 
told, " bravely, as Englishmen should do." 

In Herbert was lost a valued friend — a man whose 
weak physique alone threatened to belie his high 
promises of manhood. He possessed the most delicate 
sensibility, united with mental powers of high cultiva- 
tion. With strong opinions, he was cool in debate, and 
gracefully yielded to argument. It was his ambition to 
enter Parliament, but I am inclined to think that his 
condition of health gave a sober tint to all worldly con- 
siderations. I remember one evening he appeared to be 
greatly depressed, and, in the cour e o" conversation, 
remarked to me that he had been that afternoon to look at 
the Protestant burying-ground at Athens, and was disap- 
pointed at its " look-out," adding, after a melancholy 
pause, " I don't think I should like to lie there, and shall 
tell E to send me home to England." This pre- 
monition of early death may be some consolation to the 
friends at home who were called to mourn his sudden 
and awful fate. 



282 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

The widow of one of the victims, Mr. Lloyd, re- 
ceived a vokmtary present of ;^iooo from the King, 
with the further promise that his Majesty would recom- 
mend the Greek Parhament to vote her an annuity of 
;£'4oo. On the arrival of this lady in England, a liberal 
subscription was taken up for her there, to which the 
Greek residents were the chief contributors. Finally, 
through the influence of the London Foreign-office, the 
Greek government were required to change the original 
suggestion of an annuity into a positive payment of 
;^io,ooo sterling to Mrs. Lloyd — a measure which did 
not pass the Chamber of Deputies without protracted 
debate, in which .England was handled without gloves, 
as enforcing a most unjust demand. When at last it 
was passed, the payment was declared to be made, not 
as a precedent for the future, and not even as an act of 
justice to the lady, but because to refuse to pay it would 
be to incur further pressure on the part of England, 
which might cost Greece more in humiliation and in 
money than the payment of the first demand, however 
unjust. Thus Greece put another stone in her already 
well-filled pocket of "English injuries," against that bit- 
ter day of reckoning which, weak as she is, she trusts will 
some day come. * 

'^ In the case of the capture, a few years ago, by Italian brigands, 
of two Englishmen, Mr. Moens and Rev. J. C. Murray Ainsley, Lord 
Russell declared to the Italian ambassador in London that those 
gentlemen had " no more right to ask the Italian government to re- 
pay them their ransom, than the embassador would have, were his 
pocket picked on London Bridge, to reclaim the value from the 
English nation." 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 283 

The heads of the seven brigands killed in the con- 
flict near Delisie were brought to Athens, and displayed 
on a scaffolding erected in an open place near the city 
amidst the execrations of the crowd. 

The trial of the captured brigands, including those 
of the same band previously confined in the prison at 
Athens, was a most painfully interesting affair. The 
court was crowded with spectators, many from the best 
classes of society, and the proceedings were conducted 
with all the solemnity of law. The brigand prisoners, 
weak with their wounds, were brought into the court- 
room on litters, producing a lively impression. A sketch 
of the scene, drawn by one of the English barristers 
present, appeared in the Illustrated London Neivs, 
During their confinement in jail I was permitted to con- 
fer with them, and for half an hour, with an interpreter, 
was shut up with them in a cell. On my asking the 
most intelligent of the three w^ho were captured in the 
conflict why the foreigners w^ere treated so inhumanly, 
he threw his arms out in the fashion of a nurse, and 
exclaimed, " Inhumanly ! we treated them like babies f 
whereupon his companions, making the same ges- 
ture, repeated die words, "Yes, like babies." "And 
why did you murder them in your flight.'^" "Ah," 
he answered, "when shots are flying thick and fast 
about one's head, one does not know exactly what he 
does." 

The five condemned brigands were executed by guil- 
lotine at Athens on the 20th of June. They met their 



284 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

well-merited death with hrmnesSj but ehcited no particle 
of sympathy from the spectators. 

The terrible massacre of the four foreigners plunged 
not only Athens but all Greece into the deepest mortifi- 
cation and affliction. In England the news of the cap- 
ture had in the first instance created no excitement. 
The London Times pronounced it a '^ comedietta/^ and 
that " beyond the payment of the ransom-money there 
was scarcely any element of inconvenience, and cer- 
tainly none of danger in the transaction. It was a cus- 
tomary incident of the spring j'^ and the Times went on 
to suggest that in case of need " a detachment from 
Malta might be employed in aiding the Greek govern- 
ment to recover our snared countrymen/' a suggestion 
which contained in it, as the sequel proved, the very 
'' element of danger" which produced the fatal result. 
But no sooner was the " comedietta " at Marathon 
turned into a tragedy by the employment of mihtary 
measures, than a feeling of anger was produced in Eng- 
land which vented itself in the most bitter and unjust 
denunciations against the whole Greek nation. The 
London journals declared Greece to be '*' a country 
whose political system is anarchy, and whose staple in- 
^ dustry is brigandage ;" '^ a miserable failure and a posi- 
tive nuisance to Europe ;" " the home of rufiians, and 
the den of assassins ;" " a nest of robbers and pirates ;" 
" a mere brigand's den/' "the St. Giles of Europe — the 
Ratcliff Highway of the world 3" " a generation of bas- 
tards ;" " a convict settlement — the curse of the Levant f 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 285 

" a rickety bantling, and a political swindle ;" and so on 
ad naicseam, * 

We cannot wonder at the horror and anger of Eng- 
lishmen when the news of the ruthless slaughter of their 
innocent countrymen was telegraphed to London. But 
we are apt to regard — at least we wish to regard — the 
press, as we regard a judicial tribunal, as raised high 
above popular passions and personal vindictiveness ; as 
a calm, unprejudiced recorder of events, postponing 
criticism until all the evidence is in, and a judgment can 
be formed on the basis of indisputable facts. 

As time threw light upon the history of events, and 
a better understanding of the matter cleared the Greek 
government and people of the infamous cliarges laid at 
their feet, public opinion was modified ; and although 
there has never been made one generous retraction of 
these charges, silence has given assent to the idea 
that they were unsupported by facts. Unfortunately, 
through the misunderstanding of a remark made by the 
Greek Prime Minister to the English representative at 
Athens, the impression was conveyed that the extraor- 
dinary tenacity with which the brigands held out was at- 
tributable to the intrigues of political parties who wished 
to embarrass the existing ministry. No sooner was this 
idea mooted than the British government demanded that 
a most searching judicial investigation should be had at 

"^ A sharp and incisive criticism on England's injustice to 
Greece in this affair, from the pen of a Greek gentleman resident in 
London, was published by Cartright, 21 New Broad street. 



286 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

Athens for the purpose of discovering and bringing to 
judgment accomphces of the crime near Marathon, and 
that two EngUsh barristers should be allowed free access 
to the courts to watch the proceedings. After some 
difficulty, owing to the unprecedented character of the 
last demand, it was acceded to. The preliminary ex- 
amination was accordingly instituted, and occupied in 
duration nearly seven months. The number of arrests, 
chiefly of shepherds and peasants, or persons of a similar 
condition in life, was in. Of these, two died in prison ; 
forty-seven were released for want of any evidence 
against them ; and sixty-two were sent for trial. Sev- 
eral of these last were finally sentenced to imprison- 
ment, on proof of having protected, given food to, or 
otherwise been in collusion with the band, and two were 
sentenced to hard labor for life for having advised the 
brigand band of the passage of the travelers to Mara- 
thon, and urged them to wait and make the capture on 
their return. The only person of any social standing 
who was charged with complicity in the crime was a 
young Englishman, son of the proprietor of a large es- 
tate in Euboea, which island lies along the coast of 
Greece near its northern frontier, and not far from the 
scene of the terrible events recorded. This person had 
in his employ a brother of the Arvanitaki brigand chiefs, 
and had had business relations with two other brothers 
of the outlaws. A note, said to have been signed by 
one of the brothers, to the brigands, and found upon the 
body of the chief, Christos, urged him to be firm and 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 287 

not to yield the point of amnesty. The EngUshman 
himself was sent to the brigands to assist in the negoti- 
ations for the release of the captives ; and whatever he 
may have said to the chiefs, he certainly made no con- 
cealment of his opinion that "amnesty ought to be 
granted to the brigands." This young gentleman had 
not only employed the brothers of the brigand chiefs in 
business connected with his estate, but he stood in rela- 
tion to them as " koumbaros," or co?npere \ that is he had 
stood godfather to the child of one of them, and was 
bound to the outlaws by ties which in Greece are re- 
garded as sacred. His position, therefore was extreme- 
ly difficult. 

Such a prisoner and such a charge were, indeed, a 
most unexpected result of an investigation instituted 
by the British government in the expectation that some 
Greek statesman or other would be found at the bottom 
of the mystery. No wonder that England was cha- 
grined, and that a desire to " hush up the matter " was 
expressed in government circles in London ! However, 
the young Englishman, whose unfortunate relations 
with the brothers of brigands is an evidence of the fact 
that respectable people cannot always avoid seeming 
complicity wdth open-handed criminals, was well treated. 
Unlike the one hundred and eleven low fellows who 
were doomed to share the unenviable hospitality of a 
loathsome jail, until slow justice found it convenient to 
examine into their case, he was allowed to walk the 
streets of Athens en parole^ and to reside with one of his 



2 88 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

own countrymen, who was kind enough to defend him 
in a London journal, before he could be brought to trial. 
Finally, as might have been expected under the circum- 
stances, he was not even brought to trial, the evidence 
being insufficient to sustain a criminal charge against 
him. 

The English Minister at Athens is accused of having 
blundered in authorizing, or in not disapproving of the 
military measures, which, after much earnest consulta- 
tion, were resorted to by the government, and which, as 
has been seen, caused the death of the captives. How- 
ever opinions may vary on this point, every one, upon 
consideration, will at least agree with the English Min- 
ister in the opinion expressed by him in his dispatch to 
the Foreign-office, that " if the brigands had been 
allowed to carry off their prisoners without interruption 
from the comparatively accessible situation they w^ere 
then in, and if the captives had dropped off miserably 
one by one, or been murdered at a later period by the 
brigands in some chance encounter with the troops, it 
would equally have been said that they (the English and 
Italian Ministers) were to blame, and that they ought nev- 
er to have consented to their removal from Oropos ; that 
a little firmness would have forced the brigands to ac- 
cept the terms offered to them ; in short, any misfortune 
to the captives would always have been attributed to 
their mismanagement." 

Lord Muncaster had been the subject of some ab- 
surd censure on the assumption that he should have re- 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 289 

turned to his unfortunate friends in captivity when the 
demand of the brigands for amnesty was not comphed 
with. This gentleman was true to his parole. The 
terms named to him by the brigand chief were " ransom 
^/-.amnesty," and, as we have seen, the money was 
promptly obtained, and was ready for dehvery, when the 
outlaws changed their terms, and refused to accept the 
one without the other. I am in a position to state that 
both Lord and Lady Muncaster had but one opinion as 
to his duty in the matter, had he failed in fulfilling his 
pledge to the outlaws. As it was, there was nothing 
whatever to gain in honor to himself or advantage to the 
poor prisoners by his rejoining them ; and his death, un- 
der such circumstances, would have brought upon his 
memory the imputation of inexcusable folly. 



This, paper has been prepared partly to narrate an 
event which for a time created intense excitement in 
England, but chiefly to correct erroneous impressions 
caused by distortion of some of the facts, and intentional 
suppression of others. Although in this country the news 
of the massacre of the foreigners attracted less attention 
than abroad, the idea prevails that in some unexplained 
way the sole responsibility of the final catastrophe rests 
upon the head of the Greeks. Of course our journals 
cannot be blamed for relying upon foreign statements, 
when they have none other to rely upon ; it is neverthe- 
less unfortunate that in borrowing the words of European 
critics in relation to other countries than our own, we 
13 



290 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

occasionally — in ignorance of the political animosities 
which exist across the water — borrow their prejudices 
also. Especially unfortunate is it when an event which 
has now become historical, is accounted for in the pages 
of an American Cyclopaedia — professing, and of course 
intended to be authentic — as incorrectly as the following : 
*' The Greek Government^ instead of devising means, for 
the transmission of the ransom^ and consequent release of 
the priso7ters, ordered troops to operate against the rob- 
bers who, being closely pressed in their stronghold, cru- 
elly murdered all the prisoners." The injustice of this 
statement will be apparent to the reader. The brigands, 
having changed their original terms, it would have been 
a useless exposure of property to have forwarded the 
money while the other question was in abeyance, and 
the prisoners also requested that it should not be sent. 
Nor did the brigands demand it. They knew that the 
treasure was boxed and ready for them the instant they 
would accept it in exchange for the captives. Indeed 
the money had become a secondary object with them. 
They had " no faith in the Greek Government," as the 
chief told the prisoners, for they had been three times 
attacked by the troops on their way into Attica, and 
three of their companions lay in the prison at Athens. 
They suspected danger even after the promise that they 
should not be interfered with on their retreat to the fron- 
tier ; and they only looked for safety through a free par- 
don, which should extend also to the prisoners in the 
jail at Athens. Thus this unhappy business turned upon 



THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 291 

the persistency with which these wretches urged a pre- 
posterous demand — one which, if acceded to, would have 
violated a principle which no government in the civil- 
ized world can violate with impunity. 



THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 




THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 

HERE Italy uplifts her heel, transfixed as it 
were in the attempt to make a football of 
Sicily, the blue waters of the Adriatic mingle 
with the Mediterranean through the Strait of Otranto. A 
little to the south-east of this strait, its extremities ap- 
proaching to within a few miles of the Albanian coast, 
lies a lovely island. It is lovely alike for its serene skies, 
its delicious climate, the mountain masses which are seen 
from it on the opposite shore, and its own range of pic- 
turesque eminences, rising at one point three thousand 
feet above the sea and sloping with graceful irregularity 
into a hundred valleys verdant with olive groves and luxu- 
riant vineyards. 

To this natural scenery, the inspiration of the past 
lends an indelible charm. Romance and history have 
marked it for their own. A legend of the greatest of 
ancient, if not indeed of all, poets floats about its in- 
dented coast, and to the eye of the enthusiast gives a 
deeper blue to its waters, a more tender green to its 
groves. Here, or supposed to be here, which is much 
the same thing, the warrior-king Ulysses found safety 
from shipwreck and held the famous interview with Nau- 



296 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

sicae, — she who has been called " the most interesting 
character in all ancient poetry." Here spread the mar- 
velous gardens of her father^ King Alcinoiis. From this 
island sailed the vessel which transported the hero of 
the Odyssey to the arms of the tried and faithful Penel- 
ope, and returned only to be stricken into rock by the 
avenging gods. For him who doubteth, here lies the 
ship-transformed islet itself, a perpetual rebuke to the 
skeptic and a memorial of the imperishable genius of 
poetry. 

But, to the student of history, the island which is now 
being brought to the reader's attention has more sub- 
stantial claims for regard. Great men, it appears, have 
stood upon its soil and great events have occurred be- 
neath its skies. It afforded a refuge, at least during a 
portion of his exile, to Themistocles, the " savior of 
Greece." Aristotle, another noble victim of popular in- 
justice, came hither and was " so charmed with the island 
and its people, that he persuaded Alexander, then in 
Epirus, to join him." It was the scene of the marriage 
of Octavia and Antony, and hither she returned after- 
wards to weep at his neglect. " Titus, after the conquest 
of Jerusalem ; Helena, on her way to Palestine in search 
of the true cross ; Augustus Csesar, who gave peace to 
the world ; Dioclesian, the persecutor of the Christians ; 
and poor blind Belisarius " are some among the illustri- 
ous persons who are said to have landed or sojourned 
on this island. Lanassa, wife of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, 
" received this emerald isle for her wedding portion. 



THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 



297 



Cicero probably passed the place as he came to visit his 
devoted Atticus, whose estates were on the opposite 
shore, Cato and TibuUus ; the Emperor Nero ; Richard 
I. of England, he of the lion heart ; and Robert Guis- 
card, who seized the island in 108 1, are names more or 
less interwoven with its history. The island is thus asso- 
ciated with the Greeks and Romans in the height of their 
power, as well as with the times of the crusades. " Here 
was passed in review that splendid armament which was 
destined to perish at Syracuse — the Moscow of Athenian 
ambition — and four hundred years later the waters of 
Actium saw a world lost and won. Here again after the 
lapse of sixteen centuries, met together those Christian 
Powers which off Lepanto dealt to the Turkish fleet — so 
long the scourge and terror of Europe — a blow from 
which it has never recovered." But, ages before the 
last-mentioned events, these quiet little bays floated a 
fleet of 120 triremes, which were about to engage in the 
most ancient naval battle recorded in history — that fought 
between Corinth and Corcyra, b. c. 657. Nor is the latest 
history of the island the least interesting. Here, within 
our own times, a political experiment was essayed which 
terminated in one of the most extraordinary events re- 
corded in the history of modern governments, the volun- 
tary cession of the island — after a protectorate of fifty 
years — by the government of Great Britain to the king- 
dom of Greece. 

This island of Corfu — the ancient Corcyra — the still 

more ancient Scheria of Homer — is chief of the seven 
13* 



298 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

Ionian Isles, and lies from north-west to south-east, its 
northern extremity separated by a channel of but two 
miles in width from the coast of Albania. Thence the 
waters expand to about twelve miles and contract again 
to about five at the southern outlet, forming as it were a 
huge lake, broken by islands and set in a frame-work of 
hills that are ever changing, with the changing day, from 
gray to blue, from purple to rose. The island is said to 
have taken its name from two prominent peaks or horns 
which distinguish the towering mountain at its northern 
extremity. It is about seventy-two miles in circuit, and 
is very irregular. Its shape has been compared to a 
sickle, but the outline more closely resembles a leg of 
lamb, the thicker portion lying to the north, whence it 
tapers gracefully to scarce a quarter of its greatest width. 
But, to whatever it may be likened, Corfu is most attrac- 
tive, VN^hether approached through the northern channel 
from Trieste or Italy, or the south from Greece and the 
Ionian Islands. As the steamer advances up the ex- 
panding channel, the town of Corfu, surmounted by its 
double-peaked citadel and protected by a long line of 
unbroken sea-wall, presents a striking appearance. Two 
conical crags rise abruptly from the extremity of the 
peninsula, or tongue of land occupied by the town and 
its defences, upon the sides of which the accumulated 
green growth of centuries spreads over the natural rock, 
half-concealing it. Beyond this the summits are carried 
by solid masonry. At the base of the inner fortification 
or citadel a row of white barracks attracts the attention, 



THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 299 

and, below all, the steep, well-constructed sea-wall stretch- 
es uninterruptedly around the promontory until it meets 
the town, on the other side of which the square Vene- 
tian fortress (La Fortressa Nuova), less imposing than 
the rocky citadel in juxtaposition to it, rises in defence 
of the opposite extremity. The town beneath has the 
look of an Italian city, a clambering mass of tall white- 
coated houses from which an occasional campanile, or 
bell-tower, rises in picturesque relief. The whole — the 
town and fortress, flanked on either side by gentle bays? 
the broad waters dotted with sails, and, far to the east- 
ward, the imposing mountain wall of San Salvador — 
forms a picture of exceeding beauty. Less stately than 
Malta, and without the majesty of Gibraltar, Corfu surpass- 
es both in its union of strength with softness of repose. 
It is a dream of the past — perhaps a hope of the future 
— rather than an impending present; a place to linger 
in and to love, rather than to criticise with the spirit of 
utilitarian inquiry. 

On landing at the " San Nicolo " steps, the visitor 
takes his way up the narrow passage between the ram- 
parts and finds himself upon the esplanade, a spacious 
quadrangle lying between the citadel and the town. This 
space is intersected with graveled walks and surrounded 
with an avenue of shade-trees. The sea view to the 
north is here shut out by the government house, now the 
town palace — -a handsome building erected by the first 
"Lord High Commissioner" of England. The high- 
peaked citadel at the eastern angle of the esplanade, 



300 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



which covers its mate, is, however, the most imposing 
feature of the scene. A ditch and drawbridge separate 
it from the pubhc walk, along which runs a stone Vene- 
tian balustrade. From this point a beautiful view of the 
sea is unfolded to the spectator, reminding one of scenes 
so often depicted upon the drop-curtain of theatres, 
where the inevitable marble terrace forms a foreground 
to a vista of lapis lazuli waters, skies of cerulean hue, 
and a pile of purple-tinted mountains. To the right, the 
panorama is spread out over the miniature bay of Cas- 
trades, which is defined by. a sea-wall of smooth stone. 
Around this a well-made road forms a favorite drive and 
promenade, conducting to the wooded peninsula beyond, 
from the thick foliage of which rises the " Casino," — - 
now called by his majesty ^/ Mon Repos," — the summer 
residence of the King of. Greece. 

On the western side of the esplanade the town is 
shut out by a long row of rather stately-looking build- 
ings, occupied in their basements by shops and cafes, 
and above as residences by some of the wealthier class 
and the foreign consuls. Half this line of buildings, 
absorbed mainly by the three or four hotels of Corfu, 
has an arched colonnade beneath it like those of Ven- 
ice and Padua. This form of structure occurs at inter- 
vals in the town itself, and, with the campaniles, the fre- 
quent appearance of the " Lion of St. Mark " — the de- 
vice of Venice — rudely sculptured in the ancient arch- 
ways, and Italian names inscribed upon the streets, gives 
a Venetian air to the whole place. The esplanade 



THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 301 

forms the regular drill-ground for the troops of the gar- 
rison as well as the favorite promenade for the inhabi- 
tants. It is the heart and lungs of the town, where ev- 
ery summer evening the Corfiotes stroll under the trees 
or gather around the military band performing operatic 
and national airs in the centre of the green ; or, seated 
in groups before the cafes, discuss lemonade and ices. 
Behind this line of buildings the town itself slopes grad- 
ually northward to an inner bay, where a few merchant 
vessels of small tonnage represent the limited commerce 
of the place. 

The streets of the town are narrow and crooked, 
many of them little better than lanes, paved with cob- 
ble stones, and lined with stands of hucksters in fruit, 
vegetaj.es, ana groceries, wine and tobacco shops, cob- 
blers' stalls, cheap jewelry stores, etc. The place, as a 
whole, is cleanly, and there are few offensive smells, such 
as disgrace some of the back streets of Athens; the 
people — unlike their church bells, which are ever jang- 
ling — are quiet and orderly ; and, despite the absence 
of an air of prosperity, there is something attractive in . 
these cramped, rambling, old-fashioned streets, where 
the stranger easily loses his way, and finds himself in 
odd quarters before he recovers his bearings. 

The visitor from other Grecian towns misses in Cor- 
fu the occasional glitter and color of the national cos- 
tume which elsewhere — especially in Athens — is so ef- 
fective. The only exception to this is the round cap 
and black robe of the Greek priest, or the shovel hat of 



302 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



the Catholic clergy, or the dirty capotes of the Albanian 
boatmen from the opposite coast. Yet the population 
of Corfu is exceedingly mixed, being composed of Greeks 
and Italians, with some Maltese and Albanians, and a 
few English, the latter the remnants of those whose num- 
bers and influence were so marked here during the pe- 
riod of British occupation. 

The language of the townspeople is chiefly Italian, 
ft 
that of the country chiefly Greek, but both show the 

infusion of incongruous elements during the govern- 
mental sway over the island of various unscrupulous or 
unsympathetic powers. The stranger who asks in a 
foreign tongue for an article in a shop at Corfu, will 
most likely be surprised at receiving an answer in his 
own language, whatever that may be. The dialect is 
imperfect, but a general smatter of modern tongues 
seems to be at the command of all. They have bor- 
rowed a little from the Turks ; a few phrases from the 
French ; less from the English than would be expected 
after their long rule ; and a permanent language, or pa- 
tois, from the Venetians. 

The population of the town and its suburbs, Mandu- 
chio and Castrades, is not far from 20,000 ; that of the 
whole island about 70,000. The religion of the Greek 
Church prevails, as is readily perceived by the large 
number of churches and chapels in town and country 
— in the town alone there being over two hundred. Ro- 
man Catholics and Jews are '' tolerated," the latter far 
more kindly than the former. The two Roman Catho- 



THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 



303 



lie schools founded at Corfu are the cause of much 
complaint on the part of the zealous and jealous de- 
fenders of the Oriental Church. The Jews, on the oth- 
er hand, being held as harmless, are now entirely free 
from persecution. They control no inconsiderable part 
of the local commerce of the town, and at a recent mu- 
nicipal election, three Israelites were chosen by decided 
majorities. The statistics give the number of Latins in 
the whole island as five thousand, and of Jews six thou- 
sand. 

The processions of the Greek Church are frequent, 
and form one of the most interesting sights of Corfu. 
The richly-embroidered robes, the Church insignia, the 
flaring candles, the martial music, and the peculiar na- 
sal chant of the priests, offer an impressive spectacle. 
Until late years the Roman Catholics have been forced 
to abstain from street ceremonials, as disorder, and even 
actual rioting, was to be apprehended. These public 
displays were believed by many to be in violation of the 
spirit of the Greek Constitution, which declares that 
" Proselytism and all other interference prejudicial to 
the dominant religion are prohibited." Perhaps the 
elongated and image-bearing cross, the angel-winged 
children, and the Latin chants, which chiefly distinguish 
these processions from those of the Greek Church, 
were what the sensitive orthodox communicant regarded 
as baneful to the interests of true religion. I have, how- 
ever, seen on " Corpus Christi " day a Roman Catholic 
procession in the streets of Corfu, than which nothing 



304 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



could have been conducted with greater decorum or 
witnessed by the surrounding crowd of Greeks with 
greater outward respect. The remarks of some of the 
spectators after the procession had passed, indicated the 
prevaiUng sentiment of the Greeks. " Thank God," 
said one, "we have nothing hke that in Athens." 
^' Blasphemous," remarked another ; " their bishop un- 
der the canopy yonder is playing the part of God ! " 
The criticisms made by the Roman Catholics when the 
mummied remains of Spiridion, the patron saint of Cor- 
fu, are taken out of its silver sarcophagus and given a 
ride in state around the public esplanade, are equally 
denunciatory. 

Saint Spiridion, the finest church in the town — which 
is not saying a great deal for it — receives its name from 
the patron saint, and protects what is believed to be his 
veritable body. It stands in a narrow street of the 
same name, and furnishes one of the few objects of his- 
torical interest to the passing stranger. The edifice con- 
tains a marble screen surmounted with pictures, and the 
ceiling and walls are dark with paintings of the Italian 
School, set in heavy gilt scroll-work. The Church of 
^^ St. Spiro," as the saint is familiarly called, is frequent- 
ly the scene of ceremonials which are attended by the 
royal family. Here " Te Deums " are sung on their 
majesties' " name days," and in celebration of the birth 
of the princes. On these occasions the King and Queen, 
aids-de-camp, and ladies of honor, stand within the 
choir facing the bishop and priests at the altar, while the 



THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 



305 



standing stalls are occupied on one side by the chief 
officials of the State, and on the other by the members 
of the diplomatic corps. The nave of the church is 
filled by the mihtary and the public. Not the least in- 
teresting portion of this glittering assembly is the group 
of officiating priests, chanting the service, their long 
hair, high black caps, and stiff brocaded vestments of 
rich and diverse colors, thrown shawl-like over the shoul- 
ders, forming a peculiar picture. The body of Saint 
Spiridion, enclosed in a massive silver-embossed sarco- 
phagus, lies within a side chapel, dimly lighted by a 
swinging lamp which is never extinguished. For those 
who wish to gaze upon the sacred remains of the saint, 
a fee of about fifty drachmes (eight dollars), effects the 
desired object. On special holy days, however, it may 
be seen without any expense — except, perhaps, to one's 
feelings as he gazes upon the shrunken features of an 
eyeless mummy, with half a nose and three or four dis- 
colored teeth. The head is slightly turned aside, " result- 
ing from the sabre stroke with which he was martyred ; " 
the black skinny hands are folded across the breast in 
peaceful resignation, and the feet stick out from an em- 
broidered robe shod in spangled sandals. This state of 
preservation after death is believed to be miraculous, 
and without the aid of any intervening human hand. 
Hither, to the shrine of St. Spiro, come the good peo- 
ple of Corfu from sunrise — when the church is opened 
with clang of bells, annoying greatly the denizens of 
the neighboring hotels — until sunset, when the church is 



3o6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

closed with the same discordant announcement. It is 
curious for a bystander to observe the worshippers, old 
and young, rich and poor; the tattered and slovenly 
beggar, and the fashionably-attired lady, as they glide, 
self-absorbed, into the little sombre chapel, mutter their 
prayers over the inspired relic, and cover the sarcopha- 
gus with fervent kisses. If a listening ear could be per- 
mitted for one day to catch the whispered words uttered 
over the shrine of the martyred saint, a curious chapter 
of human infirmity might be given to the world. 

From the credible portion of the history of St. Spi- 
ridion, it would appear that he was indeed a worthy man. 
He lived at Cyprus during the reign of the cruel Maxi- 
minus Caesar, and, although an humble shepherd, de- 
prived himself of the necessities of life that he might 
bestow hospitality upon all needy wayfarers. • His only 
daughter he devoted to the church. Spiro eventually 
became Bishop of Trebissond. He was buried in the 
place of his birth, but, owing to the miraculous power 
with which he was believed to be endowed, his body was 
carried in the seventh century to Constantinople and 
there worshipped as a saint. When the Christians fled 
before the Turks in 1456, a poor man bore away the re- 
mains of Spiridion and a certain other saint, by conceal- 
ing them in two sacks of provender on the back of a 
mare. Reaching the coast of Epirus, he crossed the 
water to Corfu, where he erected a rude church over the 
precious treasures, and miracles and cures innumerable 
were wrought at the sacred shrine. Becoming rich 



THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 307 

through the offerings then made by the credulous, he 
married, and at his death bequeathed the saint and church 
to his sons. The daughter of one of these sons married 
Stamatello Bulgari and received the saint as her dower. 
It has remained in that family to this day. In course of 
time the present church was erected to honor the saint. 
By testamentary decree, one of the Bulgari family must 
be an officiating priest of the church, and the three 
brothers take turns in receiving the annual income of 
offerings, which give a handsome support to the family. 
Spiridion was one of the bishops present at the cele- 
brated Council of Nice, and is said to have illustrated 
there the doctrine of the Trinity in the following man- 
ner : " You cannot comprehend/' he said, " the doctrine 
of three in one. Can you comprehend the simplest op- 
eration in Nature ? Look at this earthen pitcher. Are 
not the three elements of fire, water, and earth so min- 
gled in its composition that it could not exist without any 
one of the three ? You believe it, but do not see the 
fire or the water that enter therein. Nay, you cannot see 
the dust of which it is composed." A writer who relates 
this as " the only fact in the saint's life redounding to 
his honor," and one which is said to have " confounded 
the Arians," weakens the evidence by destroying the 
character of the witness. 

How far the Corfiotes of to-day believe in the super- 
natural intervention of their saint it is difficult to deter- 
mine, though there is more latent superstition than the 
learned are willing to admit But the force of habit and 



3o8 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

the unwillingness to break through old and what are con- 
sidered at least harmless customs contribute largely to 
swell the income derived from the saint's body. 

Much the same feeling which induces certain intelli- 
gent people of the most civilized countries to be influ- 
enced by omens and signs impels the well-educated Greek 
not to deny the virtues ascribed to his saints. Many 
Corfiotes, with a certain shamefacedness, and others 
without^he shamefacedness, express their faith in the 
divine intercession and curative virtues of St. Spiro. 
The ignorant believe, and the priests confirm their be- 
lief, that Spiridion " walks the sea on stormy nights, and 
indeed seaweed is often found about his legs, which fur- 
nishes a lucrative article of commerce." The sick are 
frequently laid in the street on festival days of the saint 
that his body may pass over them and effect a cure. It 
is reported, and believed, that in a certain criminal trial 
which took place in Corfu some years since, owing to the 
contradictory evidence, two of the conflicting witnesses 
were called upon to swear to their testimony by touching 
the silver case which enshrines the body of " St. Spiro," 
and, each having taken the oath, the hand of the false 
witness soon afterwards withered, thus attesting his per- 
jury. 

Of other local supernatural beliefs, as recorded by 
various writers, a few may be briefly mentioned in this 
connection. 

On Easter day in Corfu, when the ringing of bells at 
noon responds to the voice of the bishop, " Our Lord is 



THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 



309 



risen," the windows are thrown up and a crash of old 
crockery resounds along the pavements of the narrow 
streets ; old women shout " avaunt fleas, bugs, and all 
vermin ! make way for the Lord of all to enter ? " ac- 
companying the invocation with a shower of broken pots 
and pans. On these occasions, woe to the luckless 
stranger who may be walking the streets of Corfu in un- 
happy ignorance of this domestic institution, of which 
perchance a noseless water-jug flying in dangerous prox- 
imity to his own nose, may suddenly enlighten him. 
Greek saints, which in a measure supply the places of 
the gods of a passed-away mythology, are invoked for 
blessings and assistance in all the important aflairs of 
maritime and agricultural life. The planting of the seed 
and the gathering of the fruits require each a benedic- 
tion ; a boat purchased by a Greek of a Turk must be 
formally purified ; St. Eustace is respectfully requested 
to free a field or vineyard from caterpillars ; St. Peter 
gives his particular attention to the fishermen's nets and 
lines; Elijah blesses salt; St. Procopius protects the 
thick skull of the stupid school-boy. After the slaugh- 
ter of the lambs on Easter day, a lock of wool is dipped 
in the blood and a cross is inscribed with it on the lintel 
of the door. Within the memory of old islanders the 
o^olo, a small copper coin, has been deposited in the 
coffin of the dead to pay Charon his fee across the Styx. 
In parts of the country, evil spirits are supposed to be 
abroad at noon, during the month of August, and the 
peasants shut themselves up in their houses. A coffin- 



3IO 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



nail, here, as in many other parts of the world, when 
driven into the door of a house, affords perfect security 
from ghosts, and a triangular bit of paper, on which is 
written the name of a disease, effectually prevents the 
appearance of the malady in that neighborhood. Rags 
tied to a bit of stick receive the evil spirits exorcised by 
the " papa " or priest. To drop oil bodes no good, and 
to see a priest at sunrise is a very bad omen, and a con- 
venient apology for the reverend sluggard. It is but fair 
to say that these and a hundred other superstitions are 
chiefly prevalent among the peasantry, and in the towns 
are confined to the lowest classes. These will fade away 
with the increasing light of civilization, if it is permitted 
through natural channels, and not through forced lenses, 
to pass into the social apprehension of the people of the 
East. 

In educational matters, Corfu and the Ionian Islands 
are behind Athens, which latter, without the advantages 
of British influence and culture during the "Protector- 
ate " of the islands, has made very rapid strides in scho- 
lastic instruction since her forty years of freedom. Be- 
fore the cession, there were, according to English sta- 
tistics, 304 schoolmasters in the island. A university 
established under private auspices seems to have failed, 
and yet there are more children taught to-day in Corfu 
than then. A law obliges the attendance of pupils at 
school, but, like many Greek laws, it is not enforced. 
The late "Nomarch" or prefect of Corfu, Mr. Mavro- 
cordates, an intelligent gentleman and son of the illus-; 



THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 3x1 

trious statesman of that name, made exertions to in- 
crease the number of schools in the island. Being once 
on a tour of inspection, he was gratified to find that all 
the boys in a certain village remote from the capital at- 
tended school daily. Thereupon the Nomarch suggest- 
ed that girls' schools should be established, but this was 
met with an expression of surprise : " What ! would you 
have girls — who naturally know so much more than boys 
— educated ? They would soon be the masters of the 
town." This little item may be a crumb of comfort to 
the advocates of '' Woman's Rights " at home. Among 
other social benefits, female education in the Ionian 
Islands would occupy with elevating domestic pursuits 
the minds of a large number of women, and introduce 
a taste for book-reading of a higher order than French 
romances. There are, however, many of the gentle sex 
whose cultivation and manners combine in a consider- 
able degree to enhance the attractions of the pleasant 
island they inhabit. But strangers know little of the 
local society of the place and should be guarded in their 
criticisms. The English used to complain that the Greek 
families would not mix with their own. Not that the 
latter were regarded in any spirit of unfriendliness, but 
rather from natural and unsympathetic causes. The 
dinners and balls at the " Government House " and at 
the houses of the leading officials were always graced by 
Greek ladies and honored by Greek gentlemen, but some- 
how or other these compliments were seldom returned 
by the Corfiotes. " They will eat our dinners and slide 



312 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY.. 

over our floors, but we never get so much as a polite re- 
quest to call and see them, much less to sit at their ta- 
bles/' said an Englishman. It is possible that English 
affluence and Greek economy were impelling causes in 
this matter. Still the natural habits of the two peoples 
are widely different, and the Corfiotes prefer their own 
society to that of strangers. They are seclusive rather 
than exclusive. Among themselves they have many re- 
unions. Music and the dance are heard in the houses 
of the rich and the poor, while those who have no homes 
— such as young men who go to their lodgings only to 
sleep, and then among the small hours of the morning — • 
pass their evenings at the cafes and devote the greater 
part of the night to perambulating the streets and sing- 
ing songs under the windows of the sleepless. For 
hours, too, in the neighborhood of the hotels, the ear is 
forced to keep time to the sound of numerals issuing 
from some neighboring wine-shop, as the players at 
" Moro " enunciate " one," " two," " five," etc., accord- 
ing to the guess of the player at the number of fingers 
his opponent holds up. When all the money has been 
won or the drinks exhausted, " silence, like a poultice, 
comes to heal the wounds of sound." But the respite is 
a brief one. Soon the back streets awaken with fresh 
abominations. The discordant voices of women, lean- 
ing out of the open windows, mingle with the incohe- 
rent shouts of drunken sailors, from the foreign ships 
of war in the harbor, as they stagger through the streets 
after a beastly carousal. And so with variations passes 



THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 313 

many an entire night, until the bell-clanging of daylight 
begins, or the corporal commences his " one, two, three " 
drill upon the parade ground in front of the hotels, or 
the military band goes crashing by at guard-mounting. 
All this is so susceptible of correction, under proper po- 
lice regulations, that the traveller wonders why his com- 
fort is not a little more respected by the local authori- 
ties. Yet these night nuisances have for years been 
complained of and existed in full force even during the 
English Protectorate. 

Corfu is no exception to the rest of Greece in the 
democratic instincts of her people, but, like many of 
those who dwell even in professed republics, the distinc- 
tion of titles is not always repugnant to the happy few 
who acquire them. The cards left upon foreigners — not 
their own people — are frequently impressed with a coro- 
net or bear the prefix of a " Count." This is the rem- 
nant of Venetian island aristocracy. The Venetians, 
ever proud of their own birthright, were less rigid in the 
bestowal of titles upon their dependencies, and they 
were thus sometimes cheaply bought or earned. The 
Corfiote " Count " of to-day, he who mingles with the 
best society of the place, is most probably a " genuine," 
and, like many titled gentlemen in Eastern Europe, may 
possibly carry all his personal property in his visiting 
card. But there are occasional spurious specimens 
floating about the Ionian Islands, who, with their more 
worthy fellow-subjects, will some day be glad to drop 

their handles and rejoice alone in their simple manhood. 
14 



314 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



The society of Corfu is unostentatious, and the peo- 
ple are simple in their tastes. The lower orders are 
frugal, inactive, generally complaining, yet too indiffer 
ent to effect reforms even where reform is at their elbow. 
They are domestic and exceedingly temperate. Both 
classes, like the ancient Corcyreans, regard hospitality 
as a sacred duty. They are polite, affable in manner, 
excitable, and proud. Oriental subserviency is not car- 
ried to the extent observable farther east, but there is 
enough among those who employ it as their stock-in- 
trade to amuse the unaccustomed Frank. From the 
street mendicant to the shopkeeper, the lowest and most 
deferential of bows to him who is entitled to any official 
consideration precedes all communication, and " Your 
Excellency," oftentimes employed superfluously, prefa- 
ces every sentence. The landlord will sometimes enter 
the apartment of such an one with the air of a man who 
is about to petition for his life, rather than to inquire at 
what hour " His Excellency " will dine, and on receiving 
his answer, will back out of the presence at the immi- 
nent danger of upsetting himself as well as the gravity 
of his guest. Yet the pride of the Greek, here as else- 
where, true or false, never deserts him. It goes hand in 
hand with his poverty, and is the saving salt of his mea- 
gre portion in life. The stranger in Corfu, if he remains 
long enough to be known, and especially if he is sup- 
posed to have a plethoric purse, will very likely be 
the recipient of more than one charitable epistle, ele- 
gantly written, and couched in affecting terms, setting 



THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 



315 



forth the domestic troubles which had reduced the wri- 
ter from a condition of prosperity to abject want. Per- 
haps the petitioner will present himself in person, clad 
in seedy black, and tell his tale with the refinement of 
manner of one who has all his hfe been a giver, and 
never before an asker of alms. He may or may not be 
an imposter, but wall in either case go away with tearful 
gratitude for the little aid which may be bestowed. Such 
assistance, however needy he may be, the Greek wall not 
seek of his own countrymen if he can find a stranger to 
apply to, for he knows that by his own people a man re- 
duced in circumstances is often despised. It is not un- 
common for one who has received money in this way 
from a stranger to go first to a cafe and put in an ap- 
pearance before his friends. In an off-hand manner he 
will order coffee or wine for the companions whom he 
may meet there, and, having sustained his pride by this 
display of hospitality, will go home to spend the rest of 
his money in relieving the pressing wants of his impov- 
erished family. 

Like all his race, the Corfiote is excessively fond of 
amusement and display, and, as in other parts of Greece, 
the number of holidays seriously interferes with the in- 
dustry and prosperity of the people. Scarcely two- 
thirds of the year are occupied by working days. The 
feasts and the fasts are of such frequent recurrence as 
to make it imperative upon the stranger to keep the al- 
manac constantly before him to know what days he can, 
and wdiat days he cannot attend to the business he may 



3i6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

have to do. The bells ring in these feast and fast days 
— clang again at noon, and clang again at night. No 
shops but the wine-shop and the tobacconist's are open, 
and no workman can be found till the sacred day is over. 
As most of the people are named after saints, it follows 
that whenever the ^' Saint's day " comes round, all the 
" Spiridions," " Demetriuses," " Nicholoases," and so 
on, must keep high festival. On more general celebra- 
tions, such as the Anniversary of Greek Independence, 
the queen's name-day, the baptism of princes, or the 
public visit of some distinguished guest, the people give 
themselves wholly up to pleasure, which generally con- 
sists in an unusual modicum of bell-ringing, martial mu- 
sic, discharges of cannon, perambulation of the streets 
in holiday attire, and a devotion of the evening and 
night to a combination of these elements, to which is 
added illumination and fire-works. Nothing less than 
frequent discharges of rockets, interspersed with a co- 
pious display of blue, red, and green Bengal lights, seem 
adequate to relieve the feelings which surcharge the 
Corfiote on these occasions. 

It would be foreign to the purpose of this sketch to 
offer any extended remarks upon the political condition 
of the island. A few brief observations may, however, 
be permitted, touching the political antecedents which 
led to the union of the Ionian Islands with the Kingdom 
of Greece. The " Government House," now the town 
palace, stretches across the northern side of the espla- 
nade, and with its semicircular wings embraces the en- 



THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 317 

tire width of this pubUc ground. No better position 
could have been selected for the residence of the gov- 
erning power, and it fitly typifies the expansive and en- 
grossing character of the government, which, under the 
harmless title of a " Protectorate," ruled the people of 
the Ionian Islands from 181 6 to 1864. Every one is 
familiar widi the modus operandi of a puppet-show. The 
operator is concealed beneath the stage where the figures 
perform to the admiring crowd in front, and only the 
uninitiated suppose that the little actors on the scene 
move by their own volition. The Senate of the Ionian 
Islands — consisting of one Senator from each island — 
held the executive power and met in the Senate Cham- 
ber in the " Government House," and the English " Lord 
High Commissioner," in whom the " Protectorate " was 
personified, resided in the same building. It is not in- 
tended by this illustration to insinuate that this distin- 
guished functionary was concealed below the polilical 
stage as the wire-puller is concealed in the puppet-box. 
The fact was precisely the reverse. The Ionian Senate 
held its sittings in the basement story of the Govern- 
ment House, and the Lord High Commissioner of Eng- 
land occupied the apartment overhead ! From this, the 
sagacious mind will readily infer the character of " self- 
government " during the period of British protection. 

The esplanade of Corfu is adorned with three mon- 
uments, erected in commemoration of three of the ten 
Lord High Commissioners, through whose varied ad- 
ministrations England virtually exercised sovereign sway 



3i8 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

over the Ionian Islands. One of these monuments is 
in the form of a circular Grecian Temple, and bears the 
name of Sir Thomas Maitland, the first " Lord High '' — 
familiarly, known as " King Tom," from the arbitrary- 
character of his rule. A full-length statue in bronze of 
Sir Frederic Adams, stands in classic dignity before the 
old Government House. Sir Frederic's administration 
was much after that of Sir Thomas's, but his influence 
for good over an essentially democratic people was im- 
paired by his love of pomp — a characteristic well illus- 
trated in the flowing robes and august attitude of his 
brazen statue. Overlooking the water, at the other end 
of the esplanade, rises a granite obelisk, in memory of 
Sir Howard Douglas, fourth Lord High Commissioner, 
whose relaxing policy was hardly more successful than 
that of his predecessor. Lord Nugent, whose efforts at 
reforms and liberal measures were not sufficiently guid- 
ed by moderation and sagacity to carry out his well-in- 
tentioned efforts. These three monuments are protect- 
ed against injury by a convention to that effect, entered 
into between the lonians and the British government, 
and, whether acceptable or not to the popular taste, 
there they stand, perpetual reminders to the lonians of 
what they have lost. But if — and it is to be hoped such 
a contingency will never arise — these monuments should 
ever be endangered by an excited populace, that of Sir 
Howard Douglas, at least, ought to be respected, for, 
whatever were his failings as a political ruler, he had the 
honesty to state plainly to the British government the 



THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 



319 



cause to which chiefly must be ascribed the failure of the 
" Protectorate." In a dispatch to the Colonial Minister, 
Sir Hctvard wrote : '* Truth and a strong sense of duty 
compel me to declare that the internal strength of the 
country, the moral and physical state of the people, have 
not been benefitted by British connection so far as to 
protect us hereafter from the reproach of having attend- 
ed less to their interests than to our- own." 

There is another monument in the esplanade at Cor- 
fu which, though old and time-stained, infinitely sur- 
passes those just named in its material and moral effect. 
It is a statue in marble of Marshal Schulemburg, who 
in 17 16 "piled the ground with Moslem slain" and de- 
livered the Corfiotes as well as the Venetians from the 
brutal ferocity and ignominy of Ottoman oppression. 
As to the English rule in the Ionian islands, it must be 
said that those who administered in the name of the 
Sovereign of Great Britain were men of high social 
standing — some among them of more than ordinary 
mental culture — and personally such as to command the 
respect of those whom they were to govern. The seem- 
ing incapacity of the English mind to comprehend and 
assimilate with other races — the total supremacy of the 
Anglican idea at the expense of that generous sympathy 
with foreign habits of thought and action which is born 
of unselfishness — interfered materially with the inten- 
tions of the governing party, which were, beyond ques- 
tion, for the most part pure and noble. England was 
thus forced by her inability to gain the good will of the 



320 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



lonians, to relinquish the islands^ and chief among them, 
Corfu, the "Key of the Adriatic," which fifty years 
before she had taken upon her hands with all the pomp 
and circumstance of a conquering power. The English 
would have left a kindlier feeling behind them if, instead 
of yielding to the Austrian demand, she had permitted 
Corfu to retain the defences towards the construction 
of which the Corfiotes had themselves contributed. 
But these noble works were ruthlessly sacrificed, and 
the island of Corfu declared to be thenceforth " neutral 
ground." The magnificent fortifications on the island 
of Vedo, lying opposite to the town, which cost upwards 
of a million of pounds sterling, were in the course of a 
few hours blown high into air, to fall a mass of shape- 
less ruins. Nor was this all. Every gun, with the ex- 
ception of seven left for ofiicial salutes, was carried off 
by the departing English, these including several hun- 
dred bronze Venetian cannon which properly belonged 
to Corfu and had formed a part of the^implements of 
defense from the period of Venetian supremacy. No 
wonder the islanders "wept" when their protectors 
stripped them of their raiment and left them half-naked. 
In vain by intrigue and open counsel were attempts made 
to induce the Corfiotes to " think again " before relin- 
quishing the arm of Great Britain and accepting union 
with Greece. They were reminded of the many gold 
sovereigns which would be drawn from daily circulation 
by the absence of the British troops and the civil 
service, and were told of the miseries attending the 



THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 321 

early struggles of a new kingdom, notwithstanding that 
the nation and-the flag would be their own. The island- 
ers replied, with an epigrammatic shrewdness worthy of 
their Spartan ancestors : " It is better to be slapped by 
our mother than by our stepmother." So the " step- 
mother '^ sailed away, leaving the Coriiotes to try the 
experiment of independence and poverty, after a half- 
century of nominal self-government, but of actual alle- 
giance to an alien power. 

These remarks may serve to disabuse the mind of 
the stranger in Corfu of certain erroneous impressions 
not infrequently received from conversations with those 
who were pecuniary sufferers by the cession of the 
islands. During the protectorate upwards of two thou 
sand soldiers were in garrison at Corfu. Consequent 
upon this, and the employment of a large civil service, 
an English community existed in the town. The money 
thus disbursed among the townspeople by the foreign 
residents and visitors was something not to be suddenly 
lost to the Corfiotes without a grumble. The amount 
of British gold daily circulated in the town is estimated 
by some as not less than eight hundred pounds sterling. 
The withdrawal of this brought half the shopkeepers to 
a stand-still, and such as remain to-day may tell the 
stranger, sotto voce, that the cession of the Ionian Islands 
was a " great mistake," and that " Corfu had nothing to 
hope for but by a return to the protection of a richer 
and more powerful nation." Corfu is no exception to 
a condition consequent upon abrupt political transform- 
14* 



322 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



ation. There are many Venetians who grumble to-day 
at the loss of their Austrian patrons and customers, and 
would welcome them back at the cost of the national 
liberty ; yet what disinterested mind would see Venice 
again under an. alien flag ? But out of the town — out 
into the free air of the agricultural districts, where the 
English tongue and Italian patois are unknown — no such 
complaints are heard. The spirit of the country people, 
like their language, is Greek, although neither will be 
found as pure as in Attica and the Peloponnesus. 

Whatever differences of opinion may exist as to the 
condition and prospects of the lonians since they threw 
off British protection, every one will agree that by the 
" union " the Kingdom of Greece has added to her own 
territory — much of which, though hallowed by classic 
history,is sterile and unproductive — as charming and de- 
lightful island scenery as, perhaps, the world has to offer. 
The drives out of Corfu over the well constructed Eng- 
lish roads — now, however, somewhat out of repair — are 
very attractive. From the rampart gates the hard mac- 
adamized roads run out like veins over the greater por- 
tion of the whole island, conducting, through pleasant 
valleys and miles on miles of olive groves, to many a lit- 
tle rustic village picturesquely perched upon hill-side 
and summit. 

The views from these elevated points are, in many 
respects, unparalleled for scenic effects. Stanfield, the 
EngHsh painter, declared one of them to be the finest 
he had ever seen, and the American poet, Bryant, says : 



THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 323 

" Here is every element of the picturesque, both in 
color and form ; mountain peaks, precipices, transpa- 
rent bays, woods, valleys of the deepest verdure, and 
pinnacles of rocks rising near the shore from the pel- 
lucid blue of the sea." He might have added that the 
picturesque costumes, graceful figures, and frequently 
beautiful features of the peasantry contribute in no little 
degree to the charms of that unique scene. 

The island" is covered with forests of olive trees, 
whose varying tints from deep to whitish green, charm 
the eye at every turn. The olive tree furnishes to Cor- 
fu its chief means of support, large quantities of the 
oil being shipped — chiefly to England — for lubricating 
machinery. The fruit is coarser than that of Zante, 
which latter is carefully picked from the tree and not 
allowed to fall and accumulate upon the ground, as is 
the case in Corfu, where the peasant — unlike the Greeks 
in general — is indolent and unthrifty. The flora of Cor- 
fu is very abundant ; indeed, it has been said that " Cor- 
fu offers a more fertile field for the botanist than any 
space of like extent in the known world." I have seen 
a list, and that but a partial one, of over three hundred 
plants indigenous to the island. Roses and jessamines, 
the sw^eet-scented clematis, the myrtle and hawthorn, 
with other varieties of plants and shrubs, sweeten the 
air and break in bright colors on the eye as they strag- 
gle along the road-side, or invite the pedestrian to fol- 
low son^e unfrequented mountain path where they bloom 
in luxurious solitude. 



324 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



Fruits are also very abundant, as the tables of Cor- 
fu fully attest. Melons in large variety ; pears, peaches, 
apricots, oranges, plums, almonds, figs and grapes of 
the most delicious flaver, tempt the appetite and largely 
contribute to the health of the resident during the trying 
heats of summer. Only the currant, that staple of the 
Southern Ionian islands, refuses to grow in Corfu. 
When transplanted there it becomes a grape, losing all 
the peculiarity of size and flavor which make this fruit 
so profitable an article of export from Cephalonia, 
Zante, and Peloponnesus, under the name of " dried cur- 
rants." Homer's account of the fruit trees that grew in 
the famous garden of Alcinoiis, in this same island of Cor- 
fu, may be quoted here as an almost literal description of 
the horticultural condition of the island to-day : 

" Tall thriving trees confessed the fruitful mould, 
The reddening apple ripens here to gold : 
Here the blue fig with luscious juice o'erflows, 
With deeper red the full pomegranate glows. 
The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear, 
And verdant olives flourish round the year. 
The balmy spirit of the western gale, 
Eternal breathes on fruits untaught to fail ; 
Each dropping pear a following pear supplies ; 
On apples, apples ; figs on figs arise ; 
The same mild season gives the bloom to blow, 
The buds to harden and the fruits to grow." 

Few travellers who touch at Corfu remain long enough 
to visit the interior of the island and obtain an idea of 
its scenic attractions. Those who drive out of the town, 
during the stay of the steamer, have scarcely time to 



THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 



325 



visit more than a single point, and that, perhaps, the 
least interesting. Many days may be agreeably spent in 
excursions over the island, ascending the various eleva- 
tions and skirting the sea-coasts. I have myself passed 
entire summers on the island, which are embalmed among 
Jny happiest experiences. 

Coming from the North, the Ionian Islands may be 
regarded as the seven stepping stones of Greece, and 
Corfu is the first of these stepping stones. Politically 
and geographically considered, it is the most interesting 
of the group, but Cephalonia, and especially Zante, the 
so-called " Flower of the Levant," is well worthy of a 
passing call. 

It was the fashion, during the years of the protecto- 
rate, for English writers to laud the Ionian Islands, and 
especially the island of Corfu, as a sort of terrestrial 
paradise. Now, silence condemns that fair region as 
unworthy of the traveller's passing regard, or the pens 
of ready writers denounce it and its people as lapsing 
into physical and political degradation. When I first 
visited the island in 1856, the British flag waved from 
the fortress, and English troops paraded on the espla- 
nade ; the streets of the town were lively with English 
pedestrians, and the blue waters of the harbor were 
whitened with the spread of English canvas from Her 
Majesty's men-of-war, and the swift-moving yachts of 
innumerable tourists and sportsmen. To-day there is 
not the feeblest evidence of that imperial power which 
swayed the lonians for half a century. The roads and 



326 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



the effigies of three or four Lord High Commissioners 
are alone left to remind us of that great political fail- 
ure. Yet the people, though poor, are happier for their 
independence, and the island, in natural charms, is as 
worthy as it ever was of the praise accorded to it by- 
Homer when he called it erateinos — " lovely," — and "the 
ever-pleasing shore, with woody Inountains half in vapor 
lost," and " the favorite isle of heaven." 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 




CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 

|F there is one name more odious than an- 
other to the Greek philologist or historian, it 
is that of Fallmerayer. That distinguished 
Savan of Munich published in 1830 a brilliant history of 
the Morea, in which he argues, with much cleverness and 
learning, that the Hellenic race is utterly extinguished ; 
indeed, that since the invasion in the eighth century of 
the Christian era, " not a single drop of Hellenic blood 
has throbbed in the veins of the mixed barbarians of 
modern Greece." One sentence of the eminent profes- 
sor will suffice to show the calmness with which he sur- 
veys the historic scene, and the masterly conviction with 
which he enunciates results. " The Scythians, Slavi, 
Slavesiani, Bulgars, Avars, Huns, Alans, Kumans, and 
other Devils' imps — teuflische Unholdekin — murder and 
slaughter the entire Hellenic race, to the very last man ! 
Nay, they burn, uproot, tear down, destroy, and annihi- 
late every city, town, village and hamlet throughout the 
whole country." * Such conclusions are hardly calcu- 
lated to win the unmixed applause of the Modern Greek. 
Indeed, he rejects them, and oftentimes with an argu- 

* Prof. Koeppen, 



330 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

mentative ability which would place the great Bavarian 
hors du co7nhat^ but for ah excess of vehemence on the 
part of the defender of Hellenism, which is always pre- 
judicial to the cause of truth. At the name of Fallme- 
rayer, I have seen a University man at Athens, whose 
natural temperament was that of imperturbable calmness, 
rise from his seat with flashing eyes and excited gesture, 
and pour forth for a good ten minutes a volley of indig- 
nant rodomontade against the memory of the unfortu- 
nate Professor, which, if not absolutely conclusive in 
point of argument, had the effect of adjourning, sine die, 
any further discussion of the subject. 

The question of how much, or how little, or if any 
at all, of the glorious blood of Hellas flows in the veins 
of the people now called Greeks, will probably never be 
decided to the satisfaction of the world at large. The 
study of the ancient Greeks is a study distinct and apart 
from that which, with any practical advantage, can be 
applied to the people of to-day. It is admitted that the 
Modern Greek claims genuine descent from the race 
which once made Athens the light and the glory of the 
world ; and with the modern Greek may properly rest 
the responsibility of proving by practical, rather than 
historical demonstration, that the action of his mind, as 
traced in visible results, is indebted for its vitality to 
hereditary influences going back to the Illyrian, or even 
to the Pelasgian tribes. If this claim of ancestry on the 
part of the Greeks is wholly fictitious, then we must ac- 
cept in its place what is unquestionably a greater phe- 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 331 

nomenon. We must, in fact, admit that what has once 
been destroyed and annihilated by the crush of ages and 
the waste of centuries, has reappeared or been repeated 
without any connecting hnk with the past, and without 
any origin traceable by natural deduction. For certain 
it is that the Greek of to-day possesses and manifests 
certain distinctive traits of character which were distin- 
guishing characteristics of the ancient inhabitants of 
Hellas, and which, in a similar degree and manifes- 
tation, do not pertain to other modern nations. Curi- 
osity, vanity, ambition, cunning, etc., are traits of hu- 
manity which every people exhibit in a greater or less 
degree, but these and other qualities are peculiarly 
marked in the Modern Greek, and in their ensemble^ more 
strikingly conform to the character ascribed to the An- 
cient Greeks, than do those of any other people. Nor 
is this resemblance confided to intellectual peculiarities. 
The ancient type of physical beauty reappears in an im- 
perfect but perceptible degree in many parts of the pres- 
ent kingdom of Greece. This is attested by a host of 
writers, some of whom note it rather as a curious fact 
than as a natural result of the history of the people. 
What is still more surprising is, that the ancient 
tongue of Greece has been so little affected by the cen- 
turies of alien power and material degeneration. " The 
preservation of the language," says Felton, " which sub- 
stantially is that which was spoken in the time of De- 
mosthenes, is one of the most surprising instances of 
tenacious nationality in the history of our race." These 



332 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

facts cannot be lost sight of in any examination which 
seeks to resolve the question which the school of Fall- 
merayer has presumed to decide in such arbitrary lan- 
guage. If I were disposed to argue the point — which I 
am not — I could hardly do better than to place side by 
side certain passages of the old historians descriptive 
of the traits of character — bad and good — of the an- 
cient Hellenes, with the criticisms of modern writers 
upon the present race. In many instances they would 
be found to be almost parallel. In other instances the 
difference is marked enough, the deficiency being the 
more perceptible from the comparison being instituted 
on the spot where ancient greatness culminated, and 
among a people whose claims to recognition of direct 
descent are out of proportion to the visible evidences 
they are prepared to bring to support it. 

I do not propose to analyze the Greek character, but 
to touch upon its salient points with a view to correct 
existing prejudices and wide-spread misconceptions. A 
mere enumeration of mental and moral traits would give 
an indefinite idea of the Hellenic mind. It is the pe- 
culiar assimilation of these qualities that makes up the 
Greek of to-day. So far as characteristics go, it may 
be said that he is vivacious, impulsive, shrewd, inquisi- 
tive, sensitive, impressible, the child of the moment; in 
temperament more French than German or Italian, and 
the opposi4;e of the Anglo Saxon. He is jealous and 
ambitious, vain and egotistical, receptive and sympathet- 
ic. He will return confidence with fidelity, and suspi- 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 



333 



cion with suspicion. He has " wit to confound, and cun- 
ning to ensnare ; " is dissimulating and frank by turns. 
He is a bitter enemy, and a generous and hospitable 
friend. Perhaps the most distinctive feature in his in- 
tellectual system is finesse, and if there is any analogy 
between the Athenian of to-day and the Athenian of 
twenty-two hundred years ago, it is exhibited in this pe- 
culiarity. The subtlety of the Greek is in such marked 
contrast to the blunt frankness of the Englishman or 
American, as to be often mistaken by the foreigner for 
dishonesty. The polish of manner and politeness of 
speech observable in the French and the Greek, the 
Spaniard and the Italian, are rejected by the American 
and Englishman, and often by the German, as mere de- 
ceptive veneering. It does not necessarily follow, how- 
ever, that the substance beneath is hollow or unsound. 
A man may " smile and be a villain," but he may also 
smile and garnish his language with compliment and 
flattery, without a jot less of human sympathy or honesty 
of purpose than the bluntest of his critics. The Greek 
may conceal his real thoughts while appearing to harmo- 
nize with yours. It does not follow that in so doing he 
practises premeditated deception. Policy and tact sug- 
gest a manner and language which the Oriental regards 
as more fitting than downright plain speaking, w^hich, if 
it did not defeat a purpose, might offend. Modern 
Greeks embellish facts as their ancestors embellished 
their architecture. Some men prefer the airy involutions 
of the Ionic, others the efflorescent Corinthian. A Greek 



334 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

will look one in the eye and fathom one's thoughts before 
expressing his own. He calculates your wants rather 
than his own ; he assents, or seems to assent, with eyes 
and tongue, while mentally snapping his fingers at your 
ignorance or folly. You may leave him with the impres- 
sion that your superior intelligence or persuasion has 
made a deep impression ; he may leave you with a feel- 
ing that he is relieved of a bore. He understands you 
better than you understand him ; and while you go away 
deceived by your own want of perception, he goes away 
with a respect for your honesty, but more and more con- 
vinced that your nation and habits are at fault. The 
Greek will not contrive to delude unless in a game of 
wits ; but he despairs of assimilation, and wishing your 
friendship, avoids antagonism. If he believes in any 
thing, it is himself — in his origin — in his capabilities — in 
the superiority of his rights. If he is despised and 
thwarted, he laments his fate, which he puts upon his 
poverty or his physical inability to cope with his adver 
sary. He appears weak, and offers no resisting hand, 
but he wraps himself in his own merits and finds com- 
pensation in ideas. As a poor and distressed gentle- 
man, with the claims of ancestry, will sometimes reap 
all the advantage he can from the society of the par- 
ve7t2ie, whom he inwardly despises ; so perhaps the Greek 
derives consolation from the thought that other nations 
in their power and strength are but as underlings in 
comparison with the "gift of blood which flows with an- 
cestral pride in the veins of his own countrymen. He 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 335 

will take all the world has to give and ask for more with / 
an inward conviction that he is receiving but his due. 
Hence the vanity of the Greek, which is a national more 
than a personal characteristic. This trait leads him to im- 
itate other Powers, so far as externals may give his nation 
importance in their eyes. He hears the boast and recog 
nizes the advantages of pompous Courts, strong armies, 
the displays of national assemblies, and of ministerial 
prominence. Like the Ancient Athenian, he contri- 
butes to the support of public institutions, pays cheer- 
fully the tax which goes to sustain the little army and 
the little fleet, and if he dies rich — whether abroad or 
at home^— will bequeath a generous sum towards the 
national university, museums, colleges or hospitals, or 
tow^ards the foundation of some public institution that 
shall bear his name. 

The vanity of the Greek lies chiefly in the direction 
of intellectual endowments. If he can make no figure 
himself, he takes pride in believing that the diplomacy, 
the legal and forensic talent and the University know- 
ledge of Athens, compare well with that which other 
nations produce in these regards. The personal vanity 
of the Greek, especially among the lower classes, dis- 
plays itself in the passion for dress. The oft-recurring 
holiday aflbrds to even the most modest-mannered wo- 
men — and all Greek women are by nature modest — rthe 
opportunity to bedeck their bodies with cheap jewelry 
and incongruous colors. He of the fez and fustinella, 
w^ho may have paid more for his gold-embroidered 



336 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

jacket and tassellod leggings than his means warranted^ 
will sport his snowy skirts on the deck of a dirty steam- 
boat where the foreign traveller is wearing from choice 
his shabbiest suit The Greek officer takes especial 
delight in the rattle of his sword, not only in the " tented 
field/' or on dress parade, but in the drawing-room when 
he makes a morning call. One may sometimes count 
the ring of the scabbard on every step of the staircase 
as he makes, martial way to the scene of his captures. 
If he has won an enamel cross or shoulder sash for hav- 
ing been in attendance upon some foreign prince, the 
mental gratification evinced in his ample display is in- 
tensified. Decorations are bestowed in the kingdom 
with such a lavish hand as to be almost valueless. It is 
the cheapest way to give contentment to those who, dis- 
believing in the theory that virtue is its own reward, de- 
sire some outward sign and token of personal distinc- 
tion. But to ascertain for what the wearer is distin- 
guished one must often ask the gentleman himself. The 
Greek does not deceive himself in this respect any 
more than does the child who knows that his wax doll is 
empty and fragile, but for all that his decorated lappel 
is the pride of his heart. The plain dress coat of the 
American Minister at public ceremonials, contrasting 
with the glitter and gold of the rest of the diplomatic 
corps, has more than once elicited the favorable com- 
ment of the press ; and once when a distinguished 
general of the United States army was present at a 
Court ball at Athens, a journal on the following morn- 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 337 

ing commented on the simplicity of appearance of " the 
winner of forty battles in a uniform without a single 
decoration " in invidious comparison with that room-full 
of " gold-laced and star-spangled gentlemen not one of 
whom had shed a drop of blood for his country, and 
many of whom were utterly ignorant of the smell of gun- 
powder." Mingling with the vanity of externals there 
is a good deal of false pride on the subject of social 
position. This runs through the lowest strata of Greek 
life and seriously interferes with wholesome occupa- 
tion. In the cities nowhere is the social grade more 
jealously guarded than in Greece, and this extends to 
the lowest ranks of menial life. In China a gentleman's 
private servant would not willingly pick up a broken 
wine glass from his master's table, but calls upon the 
house servant to do it. Much of that sort of nonsense 
prevails in Athens. A servant lad once came to me for 
his wages and to ask for his discharge ; and the only rea- 
son that could be elicited from him for leaving the ser- 
vice was that the occupation he was engaged in was 
" not respectable." " What occupation do you mean ?" 
" Helping the cook, sir." Passing into the Chamber of 
Deputies a few months after this, I was saluted by the 
guard at the door, and recognized my former servant in 
the "more respectable" employment of serving his 
country in a military uniform at the rate of three cents 
per diem and his rations. 

Personal ambition is to-day as prominent a trait 
among the modern Athenians as it was in ancient 
IS 



338 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

Athens. Rivalry is the whetstone of the University, the 
bar and the pohtical arena — the aspirant for academical 
or civic honors though baffled is never beaten ; the love 
of distinction in the one case, and the love of power in 
the other is as vital as life itself. It is not the modern 
Themistocles only who " cannot sleep " because of his 
rival's successes, but it is young Plato also and Alci- 
biades, and Demosthenes of the Chamber of Deputies ! 
But as he climbs the rugged and deceptive steep, 
deformed and haggard shapes start from out the 
shadowy by-ways and keep pace with' him. Jealousy 
and revenge, more or less developed, active or latent, 
according to his degree of cultivation, stir the blood of 
the Greek and are not easily subdued. Success may 
bring the required satisfaction, or, failing that, the dis- 
appointed one may wound his adversary to the quick 
with v/ell pointed irony or scorn. Jealousy in com- 
munities is no less prominent than in individuals. At- 
tica and the Peloponnesus faintly recall to-day die 
dissensions of ancient times. Continental Greece and 
the Ionian Islands still view each other askant, and 
between provinces, villages and classes there exist 
jealousies and petty feuds which, while they rarely 
assume the attitude of belligerency, seem to be beyond 
the power of reconciliation. The " E .Pluribus Unum " 
principle, the neglect of which brought the states of 
Ancient Greece to ruin, is not yet comprehended by the 
Moderns sufficiently to induce self sacrifice for the good 
of the whole. 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 



339 



The Greek is inquisitive. Nothing, however insigni- 
ficant, escapes his restless eye and busy tongue ; as in 
the olden time, he is " ever seeking something new," but 
the impression is fleeting, and with the love of versatility 
and from mere caprice he seizes straws which the next 
moment he gives to the wind. He enjoys life and with a 
keenness of temperament which would seem to assert 
that no sacrifice would be too great to preserve it ; yet 
no people will meet death with more stoicism, or more 
eagerly wish for self-martyrdom, if his fellows are stand- 
ing by to applaud the act, or if there be the faintest 
promise of leaving a legacy of glory behind him. Pre- 
meditation rather than impulse was the mother of many 
of those gallant deeds during the revolution which have 
enshrined the memory of Canares, Miaoules, Botrani, 
Colocotroni and others in niches of perpetual fame. 
The love of glory is a very active element in deeds of 
war, but a higher and deeper feeling, intense love of 
country mingling with the horror of the shame which 
awaited them if captured, led the Suliote women of 1823 
to fling themselves headlong from the ramparts, and the 
besieged women of Candia during the late Cretan war, 
to apply the torch to the powder magazine, preferring 
death to dishonor. Thus heroism, in its noblest signifi- 
cation, equal to any example in ancient times and sur- 
passed by none in modern history, is another character- 
istic of the Greeks, to question which would be to ques- 
tion the motives of all men who have left behind them il- 
lustrious names as martyrs for the cause of country. A 



340 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

Greek officer once laid before me the plan of a most in- 
genious but hazardous enterprise which during the * * * 
war he had proposed to the military chiefs to carry out 
under his own leadership and at his own risk. The prob- 
abilities of success were great, and the result, if success- 
ful, would have been disastrous to the enemy. His pro- 
posal, however, was rejected, chiefly because his own life 
would have been exposed to the most imminent danger, 
for the chances were indeed a hundred to one against 
him : yet he was positively indignant tliat for this reason 
the loss of one man's life,— namely his own — should 
cause the abandonment of an enterprise of such " pith 
and moment " to the State. " If I am willing to take the 
risk/' he argued, " that is my affair — I relieve you of all 
responsibility — but if you deny me, then you will be re- 
sponsible for losing an opportunity which will not per- 
haps occur again in the campaign." This truly brave 
man has never got over the disappointment at not 
being allowed to expose himself to peril in order that 
some hundreds of the enemy might be blown to perdition. 
The Greek is a passionate man ; his emotions are ex- 
cited as readily as dry straw kindles to a flame, but it 
consumes as quickly, if the cause is not substantial. 
Thus we see a man cracking a joke with another whom 
a moment before he was berating with the vilest o f 
epithets. But in many parts of the country the knife is 
as quick as the tongue, and this accounts for the large 
number of fugitives from justice, some of whom, as a 
means of eludir<5 the vigilance of the police, fly to the 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 



341 



mountains, or join bands of brigands, which keep de- 
tachments of troops incessantly moving in pursuit of es- 
caped homicides and murderers. But if passion goes 
out with the straws that kindled it, a deep-seated injury 
Hke wounded honor or a family insult burns like com- 
pressed and slow consuming tow. In coarser natures it 
urges to desperate measures, and the traveller in the 
interior of Greece sometimes sees men with their hair 
and beards growing long in token that the wearer has 
an enemy to meet ; nor will it be cut or shaved until he 
has met insult with insult, or blood with blood, like 
Achilles nursing a 

" Wrath which sets the wisest hearts on fire, 
Sweeter than dropping honey to the taste, 
But in the bosom of mankind a smoke." 

The Greek is notoriously sharp-witted and takes a 
pride in his wit. To be out-manoeuvred in a bargain, 
especially by one of his own countrymen, is a source of 
the deepest mortification. Hence the proverb, "when 
Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war." It is 
very amusing to stand by and watch the process of a 
business transaction, even if it be the buying and selling 
of a string of dried onions. The argument is often 
lost in the vehement and and simultaneous declamation 
of both parties, and is ended only by a concession of 
the original terms on the part of each. The little girl 
who sells her pottle of strawberries just as the train is 
moving out of the railway station in England, and which 
turns out to be half waste paper, would hardly deceive 



342 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

the Greek. Before he lets his sixpence change owner- 
ship he will empty the fruit into his hand and, if found 
wanting will make the change to correspond. As to 
petty cheating, it is an error to suppose that this pre- 
vails in Greece more than in other communities. The 
almost universal charge that the Greeks are " a set of 
thieves and swindlers " is about as true in its application 
to the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Greece, as was 
once the idea that the people of the State of Connecti- 
cut adopted the principles of wooden hams and nut- 
megs in their general business transactions. The 
Greeks as a people are an honest people, — that is they 
are not the " dishonest scoundrels " which they are so 
frequently asserted to be by those who employ this manih-e 
de parler without personal knowledge of the subject. 
Much of the prejudice against the Greeks is traceable 
to the low character of the mixed population of the Le- 
vantine ports. All who are not distinctly marked as 
Arabs or Turks are put down under the generic title of 
" Greeks," and the traveller who has been cheated by a 
Jew in the Bazaar at Alexandria or Smyrna, or swindled 
by a Maltese hackman, boatman, or dragoman, instantly 
assumes that he is the victim of Greek villany. But 
these Levantine scoundrels are no more Greeks than a 
Mexican half-breed is a "Yankee,'' and it would be 
quite as just for a traveller along our western frontier 
to attribute to the laxity of American morals the brutal 
character of the border ruffian, as to charge upon the 
Greek nation the sins of the Levantine ports — that is to 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 



343 



say of the mixed population — including no doubt many- 
Greeks of Alexandria and the commercial towns of 
Syria, Asia Minor and Turkey. The commercial and 
working classes in the cities of " free Greece " are as 
respectable and honest as the same classes in other Eu- 
ropean cities. The stranger will not pay more for an ar- 
ticle to a shopkeeper in Athens, because he is a stranger, 
than he will in a shop in Paris where, as is well known, 
the price to an Englishman or American is not that de- 
manded of a Parisian. Neither will he be imposed 
upon by a Greek boatman or cabman with half the 
audacity which he encounters on the Thames or in Pic- 
cadilly. If the image of King George stamped on sil- 
ver has occasionally a potent influence on the Custom- 
House underlings at the Piraeus, the image of Victoria 
on a still smaller coin produces the same effect at 
Liverpool or London. Indeed the traveller finds little 
difference in this respect wherever he goes, and I fear 
that nothing short of an " International Society for the 
prevention of imposition upon travellers " — something 
on the principle of the " Society for the prevention of 
cruelty to animals '' — will have any effect upon this wide- 
spread and incalculable evil. 

The character of servants is generally a pretty cor- 
rect test of the character of the society they serve. I 
believe Greek servants are as honest as Irish ones, 
which is no left-handed compliment, for Biddy in spite 
of her faults is not a thief. Perhaps I ought to except 
cooks, for I never yet heard of one who went to market 



344 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



for his master who did not present a bill monstrously 
out of proportion to the value received. I once offered 
to relieve my cook of this arduous duty of going to mar- 
ket by providing a substitute, but as he threatened to 
leave my service if I did so, I surrendered uncondition- 
ally. A certain French Marquis sent for his cook one 
day and asked him point hlanc how many francs a year 
he robbed him of — ^Is it 5000 ? Is it 10,000 ? The Chef 
de Cuisine was indignant at the magnitude of the sum. 
" Very well," said his master, " I ^11 add 5000 francs to 
your salary if you'll take your oatli never to charge me 
more than you pay." The proposition was accepted, 
but after a few days the cook returned to his master 
with a discontented air and remarked, " I think M. le 
Marquis, that we had better return to our original agree- 
ment 1" 

A Russian lady at Athens who, among other brilliant 
attractions, was noted for the magnificence and variety 
of her jewels, informed me that these treasures, valued 
at I know not how many hundreds of thousands of 
roubles, were kept in a small cabinet in her dressing- 
room and that her servant kept the key. AVhen I sug- 
gested that cabinets were not always impregnable nor 
servants immaculate, she exclaimed with genuine naivete^ 
" But where's the danger ? I have only Greek servants 
in the house, and the Greeks never steal." As regards 
the general fact implied in the remark, I believe that 
the lady w^as right. Greek servants do not steal. That 
some among them are " light-fingered " may be inferred 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 



345 



by an occasional missing mouchoir, or a bit of "my 
lady's laces," but it cannot with justice be asserted of 
servants at Athens what is undeniably true in many 
other countries. An American lady writing from a city 
in Saxony, says : " All servants here pilfer ; every 
thing has to be kept under lock and key." An official 
in Switzerland told me that he had no confidence in 
Swiss servants — "they will steal if they get a chance." 
An American resident in Italy says : " I have an honest 
serving-man, but where I should look to replace him if 
I lost him I do not know." As a matter of curiosity a 
friend of mine once threw a small silver coin under a 
piece of furniture in an obscure corner of the house. 
•After the next sweeping day he found the coin lying 
upon his office desk. Now Biddy would have returned 
it to the owner as promptly as the Greek servant, but it 
would have been done with a flourish something after this 
style : " Has your honor lost a shilling ? Then shure 
it's I that have found it for ye," and Biddy would have 
received the shilling as the reward of her honesty. 

Such crimes as housebreaking, highway robbery, or 
even pocket-picking, are extremely rare at Athens. On 
the occasion of the celebration of the semi-centennial 
anniversary -of Greek Independence, when the streets 
were choked for hours with dense crowds- — not less than 
fifty thousand people, as was estimated being in the 
streets to witness the military pageant, when every house 
excepting those in the line of the procession, was de- 
serted — " not the meanest servant consenting to remain 



15* 



346 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

at home on such an occasion '' — not the shghtest dis- 
turbance occurred ; no house or shop was entered, and 
not a pocket was picked ! Two years ago the safe of the 
Minister of Finance at Athens was robbed in a very in- 
genious manner. The thieves entered the city sewer at 
a distance of more than a mile from the building, and 
with great labor and patience constructed an underground 
passage from thence until they stood directly under the 
floor of the apartment they designed to enter. This 
was ascertained by means of an accomplice, who went 
daily to the room on pretence of business, and knocked 
with his cane on the floor to indicate the exact position 
to the workmen beneath. The entrance was effected at 
night, and without any suspicion on the part of the 
armed patrol who guarded the building from without, 
or the watchman w^ithin. Owing to the vigilance 
of the police the robbers were subsequently arrest- 
ed and much of the money recovered ; but the Quid 
Nuncs had to withdraw the stone they had hastily thrown 
on the pile of " Greek obliquity, as the ingenious origi- 
nator and prime mover in this cleverly managed affair, 
turned out to be an Italian. 

Crime exists in Athens as in other Capitals ; but 
what is commonly designated as the '^ criminal class," 
is unknown there. It is confined to the mountains, and 
expends itself in acts of brigandage. In morals, the 
populations of the cities and towns of Greece compare 
most favorably with the condition of other Capitals or 
towns of similar magnitude. Athens, even relatively 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 347 

speaking, has no such criminal statistics to show as Lon- 
don, where, according to a reUable report recently pub- 
lished, " one person in every one hundred and fifty per- 
sons is a forger, a housebreaker, a pickpocket, a shop- 
lifter, a receiver of stolen goods, or what not ; a human 
bird of prey, indeed, bound to a desperate pursuit of 
that terrible course of life into which vice or misfortune 
originally cast him ; a w^ily, cunning man-wolf, con- 
stantly on the watch, seeking whom he may devour. 
" And these," the report states, " are known to the po- 
lice." Neither does, what is known in some of our cit- 
ies as the " rowdy " element, exist in Athens. The peo- 
ple are peaceable, orderly, and well disposed. No 
crowd is more easily gathered together than a Greek 
crowd, and nowhere does a large assembly more quietly 
disperse. I have seen twenty thousand people gathered 
together at a spectacle at Athens, and seen them dis- 
perse at the conclusion in as good order as a congrega- 
tion of worshippers leaves a church. The revolution in 
Athens, which forced from the former King Otho a 
constitutional form of government, was not less remark- 
able for its results than for the marvellous manner in 
which those results were obtained. The whole city was 
in the streets, and for an entire day the open space :n 
front of the palace was filled with an excited and de- 
termined people, and a revolted soldiery. All police 
surveillance was suspended ; men of the lowest classes 
paraded the streets with loaded arms, and the largest 
opportunity for license and lawlessness was afforded ; 



348 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

yet, " not a gun was fired, nor a stone raised ; nor was even 
a flower picked from the public gardens." The people 
waited patiently until their sovereign — unable to with- 
stand the demonstration at his very palace door — signed 
the Constitutional decree, and then retired peaceably to 
their homes. 

Family obligations and the ties of kindred are no- 
where more respected than in Greece. Children are 
the jewels of their parents, and that one or more of them 
may shine in some sphere, the father will submit to the 
greatest of personal sacrifices. The son who dishonors 
his parent will often literally bring down his father's 
hairs in sorrow to the grave. Brothers and sisters seek 
for each other's advantage, and together respect and 
venerate their parents. The sons will not, as a general 
rule, think of marriage until the sisters are provided for ; 
nor does the young lady, as in our country, indulge in 
preliminaries on her own account. The emotional is left 
to come, if it is to come at all, after her parents or broth- 
ers have introduced to her a suitable individual upon 
whom to fix her affections, or at least to bestow her hand. 
Not that the lady is called upon to take a husband 
who may be indifferent or repugnant to her ; but the 
custom in this matter of marriage is so generally recog- 
nized that the maiden is, from the nature of things, 
" fancy free " until her wedding day. If perchance there 
is an arriere pense'e^ she does not allow it to bloom be- 
side her marriage wreath. Once a wife, she learns to 
embrace her husband as a lover, and as mistress of her 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 



349 



househould and mother of children, finds, without seek- 
ing, all the happiness she desires. Domestic fidelity, 
maternal afi'ection, family unity, and the cheerful dis- 
charge of the duties and responsibilities of wedded life, 
are nowhere more beautifully illustrated than among the 
Greeks. As a natural consequence of this condition, 
the people are emphatically a chaste people. This 
statement may open the eyes of many who are accus- 
tomed to regard the Greeks with an obliquity of vision, 
but I am persuaded that no city in the world of forty or 
fifty thousand inhabitants can boast of fewer invitations 
to sensual vice than does Athens. It is but fair to infer, 
in the absence of positive proofs to the contrary, that 
private morals keep pace with outward observances 
in this respect. As to the inhabitants of the country, 
there is no room for any question on the subject. The 
Greeks are a temperate people. This is evident to the 
most superficial observer ; but I am not sure that this 
should be noted as a national merit, since, as in other 
warm climates, it is the result of the absence of strong 
intoxicating drinks. Large quantities of wine are im- 
bibed here ; but the wine of the country is of pure grape 
juice, fermented naturally in barrels, and is very cheap. 
Rum and brandy are chiefly consumed by foreigners, of 
whom the greater part are sailors. Alcoholic drinks are 
very deleterious in warm climates, and this fact, with the 
comparative high cost of these stimulants, limit their 
consumption. The light wine of the country, on *he 
contrary, is comparatively harmless, if not positiv^ 



350 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

wholesome, when drunk with moderation. On high 
feasts and hohdays one often sees carriage loads of 
song-singing Greeks, under the effects of partial exhilar- 
ation ; but positive drunkenness is rare, while it is not 
an uncommon sight to see sailors from foreign ships 
reeling through the streets in various stages of intoxi- 
cation. But even wine-drinking leads to brawls and 
high words, for the brain of the Greek is highly excita- 
ble. The statistics of registered deaths in the city of 
Athens from the effect of strong drinks may not be very 
reliable, yet it is noteworthy that out of a population of 
fifty thousand, but twenty-six natives are known to have 
died from this cause in ten years ; while of foreigners, 
who form scarcely one per cent, of the whole popula- 
tion, the number recorded is sixteen. Enghshmen and 
Americans bear away the first prizes in the international 
exhibition of drunkards ; while Greeks and Mussulmans, 
especially the latter, are perhaps the most temperate 
people in Europe. With the Turk it is a religious obli- 
gation ; with the Greek it is more the result of circum- 
stances. 

The Greeks are a hospitable people. Many a trav- 
eller in the interior of Greece, some of whom, perhaps, 
have forgotten whose roofs sheltered them, and whose 
table they have shared, can attest to a trait of charac- 
ter which if not inherited, is most admirably copied from 
the Ancient Greeks. There are few parts of the coun- 
try where the stranger will not find a hospitable hand to 
take him in ; and no hut, however limited its capacity. 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 351 

where room cannot be found for the wanderer, be he the 
well-to-do traveller, the wearied peasant, or the half- 
starved refugee from justice. Akin to hospitality is charity, 
and the beggar who gets no recognition from a stranger in 
the streets of Athens, seldom fails to have a coin thrown 
to him by the passing Greek ; especially the poor, there 
as elsewhere, remember the poor. The political and re- 
ligious condition of the Greeks have been dwelt upon 
elsewhere. They form distinct chapters in the life of a 
people who are themselves distinct in the chief charac- 
teristics which make up a race. 

It may well be asked, if the Modern Greeks are no 
worse than has been here represented, whence arises 
the spirit of detraction — so widespread — so eagerly di- 
rected against them. Why is the very air of free Greece 
impregnated with denunciation, and the press of Eu- 
rope almost a unit in condemning her people ? To an- 
swer this question as it should be answered, would be to 
go into an analysis of cause and effect which would ex- 
ceed the limits of this paper. " Give a dog a bad name " 
and no explanation may get his good name back again. 
It cannot be doubted that if the Greeks were more pli- 
ant in the hands of those who would mould them to their 
purposes — like Turkish clay in the hands of the potter 
— we should hear less to their disadvantage. But the 
political aspirations of Greece, as has been noticed, are 
not in keeping with the policy of Western Europe, and 
she continues to flaunt her flag, with its extravagant in- 
scription, into the eyes of those whose aim and object is 



352 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

to keep the Greeks as they are and Greece where it is. 
Thus a spirit of perpetual provocation is aroused, and 
the Httle kingdom manages to keep herself so much en- 
evidence in the Eastern European Question as to weary 
and disgust those who might otherwise be her political 
friends. England has been disappointed in Greece from 
the day she assisted to save her at the battle of Nava- 
rino. When the Greeks boast of their independence, 
England does not fail to remind them that they are in- 
debted to her for that independence. This is true 
enough, and if Greece were ever likely to lose sight of 
the fact, England would keep the fact distinctly before 
her. The kingdom has not been as grateful to the Pow- 
ers for that " untoward event" as they would have 
wished. Instead of docility and submission, Greece 
has been arrogant and indiependent. She has disap- 
pointed England also in the non-payment of her obli- 
gations ] in her dissatisfaction with the boundaries as- 
signed to the new kingdom; in her persistent rejection 
of English counsel, in not opening her coasting trade to 
English vessels of commerce ; in her repeated attempts 
at territorial enlargement, and in her preference for 
Erench over English ideas. All this and much more 
were calculated to irritate the mind of her great " pre- 
server," and to color it with political prejudice, which 
the Greeks choose to call "jealousy," on account of 
English loss of maritime supremacy in the East. The 
idea that great and potent England should be jealous of 
young and struggling Greece increases the indignation 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 353 

of the former, and whets her thousand pens of irony 
and scorn. Thus the battle of the giants and the pig- 
mies becomes a ceaseless battle, in which Greece gets no 
quarter, and seldom gains any advantage ; for when the 
cannonading of the enemy reduces her to some humili- 
ating condition, she is pelted with epithets selected from 
the vocabulary of personal abuse. 

During the English protectorate of the Ionian Isl- 
ands, England looked coldly upon any sign of political 
or commercial strength in Greece which might win the 
affections of the islanders to their mother country ; and 
when at last the cession of the islands to Greece be- 
came an inevitable necessity, the last link of sympathy 
between the two peoples seemed to be destroyed. In 
spite of England's denial of malevolent feelings towards 
Greece, and of her frequent professions of interest in 
all that relates to the advancement of that kingdom, the 
Greeks maintain their own views, and withhold their 
confidence from her. Hear one of them : " It is vain to 
endeavor to make us believe that the English press is 
actuated only by a sense of justice, and a love of order 
in browbeating every aspiration, in ridiculing every effort, 
in exaggerating every misfortune, in trampling upon ev- 
ery thing most dear to the Greek people ; and in uphold- 
ing and bolstering up Turkish interests, in whitewashing 
Turkish infamy, and in applauding every silly and apo- 
cryphal speech of the Sultan. \^ Let them make a clean 
breast of it ; let them tell us honestly — " Our pohcy and 
our interests in the East are such as to make it impera- 



354 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

tive for us to uphold Turkey at all costs, and as long as 
we can. We desire to have there a nominal power 
strong enough only to keep up the semblance of an in- 
dependent State, and weak enough to be our obedient 
tool. We do not wish a progressive people who would 
soon mark out their own destiny, and would break loose 
from our tutelage. We want a people who are indolent 
and extravagant in their barbarous habits. We want 
them to take off our hands all the Manchester goods and 
Birmingham ware for which we can find no market else- 
where, at the price and on the conditions we see fit to 
impose. We want them to contract periodically, and at 
usurious rates, loans, the major part of which will re- 
main in our hands, in return for material and moral sup- 
port. We want them to give employment to our dockyards 
and to our gun factories. We want them to take over 
the bankrupt captains of our navy who cannot conven- 
iently remain amongst us for fear of duns, and make 
them Pashas and admirals. Their ambassadors in Lon- 
don, Paris, etc., are men of the world. They give first- 
rate parties, and are always ready to befriend gentle- 
men of a literary turn of mind, and inspire them with 
pure and poetic affection for a maligned race. When 
we visit them at Constantinople we are treated like prin- 
ces — even the meanest of us ; we are allowed to carry 
away gratis any antiquity we can lay our hands upon, 
and — witness our Museum at Bloomsbury — we have al- 
ready transported entire temples and almost whole cities 
to London. We were once feeble enough to allow our- 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 



3SS 



selves to be carried away partly by the entreaties of 
some really generous and noble men, and partly by a 
jealousy of other powers, and to aid you in your endeav- 
ors for liberty ; but we have since deplored the event. 
You see you Greeks are too sharp for us ; and if you 
are allowed to have your own way, you will soon sweep 
our commerce from the Mediterranean. Even now, 
weak as you are, and struggling, your merchant marine 
is the seventh in importance in the world. We cannot 
afford to allow you to go further at present. We must 
look after our own interests. Therefore we give you 
a fair and honest warning, we will favor the Turks 
through thick and thin, and oppose you." 

If Englishmen had spoken thus, we would certainly 
still be grieved, would regret their determination, and 
would deplore a policy which is shortsighted, if not also 
unjust ; but we would allow that we were treated fairly, 
and would give them credit for sincerity and straightfor- 
wardness. But to endeavor to convince us that all this 
clamor is the result of virtuous indignation, that there 
is a real desire for the progress and welfare of Greece, 
and that therefore the beloved child is chastised, is 
simply preposterous. We say, We know what is going 
on:' 

If Greece had larger resources — such a commerce 
with the Western nations, as has Turkey ; if, instead of 
her liberal notions she would bend her energies to con- 
ciliate her enemies, suppress her own schemes and ad- 
vance those of other Powers, she would find herself 



3S6 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



with as many champions among Christian nations as has 
now the government of the Ottomans. Under such a con- 
dition of things we should cease to hear of the moral de- 
ficiencies of the Greeks, or rather those deficiencies would 
be ascribed to causes for which the nation is not wholly 
unaccountable, and which would rapidly disappear un- 
der the benign influences of European civilization. 
But the individuality of the .Greek mind forbids the real- 
ization of any such change of opinion on the part of 
Europe until the political relations of the East are 
materially modified. With such modifications it is not 
improbable that Greece will have her turn of kind treat- 
ment if not of political indulgence. Until then, the 
traveller as he approaches Greece, must expect to hear 
the people denounced for all the sins which they have, 
and for many more which exist only in the imagination 
of their detractors. Some of our countrymen are ac- 
tually deterred from visiting Athens by the terrible ac- 
counts which they receive on the way of the lawless 
character of the people and the danger to life which ex- 
ists in the capital. A distinguished American told me 
that from the moment he left Vienna he heard nothing 
but what was bad of the Greeks ; these reports increased 
in intensity as he passed down the Danube, and culmin- 
ated at Constantinople, where he was told that at Athens 
it would be hazardous for him to go out of his hotel in 
broad daylight on account of the prevalence of brigand- 
age in the very streets of the capital. Being a military 
man however, who had faced open and secret foes, he 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 35-7 

Stood the hazard of the die and ventured to land in that 
classic corner of the world. He came to me with a face 
of astonishment to know " what it meant ?" He found 
himself in a quiet and attractive city, with well-informed 
and polite people about him and surrounded by evi- 
dences of civilization — taste, wealth and social enjoy- 
ment. "It is true," said he, "that I regarded much of 
what I heard as exaggeration, but where there is so 
much smoke I concluded there must be some fire." 
This is the experience of too many of our countrymen 
who visit Greece. How can it be otherwise when there 
are none but Greeks to set them right ; and when, from 
the nature of things, every word the native may 
have to say in his defence is taken with the very largest 
allowance of salt. If a stranger in an English, French 
or German hotel, club, or coffee-room in any Levantine 
or Turkish town, mentions the Greeks, he hears them 
denounced for every sin in the decalogue and with a 
vehemence of language which alone suggests the possi- 
bility that the speaker is discharging himself of an ex- 
cess of bile, rather than expressing the deliberate result 
of his own personal observation. If the traveller takes 
up some of the English " guide books " he may discover 
that he has paid his money to read the outpourings of 
an individual's wrath, rather than the record of dispas- 
sionate facts. For example : " The Greeks," says one 
of these authorities, " have insinuated themselves into 
every office (in the Turkish Empire) where their venal- 
ity, cupidity and utter unscrupulousness promise wealth 



3S8 



THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 



and rank. They are the parasites, the vermin, that 
cripple the Ottoman Empire ; and no foreigner can with- 
stand their allures, be honest to his trust in the Ottoman 
service and live. My advice is never to engage a 
Greek in any capacity whatever, unless you have the 
most ample proof of his honesty — a proof seldom to be 
met with. * * The Greeks of the Levantine ports were 
born to steal," etc., etc., etc. This English Christian 
guide book further recommends the traveller in Turkey 
to keep himself supplied with potassium, in order to 
play upon the credulity and ignorance of the Moslem 
by burning this chemical upon the waters, and so " win 
for the stranger veneration and titles." The Greeks of 
Greece come in for pretty much the same strain of op- 
probrium from European and especially English writers, 
and it is very difficult indeed for the American traveller 
to disabuse himself of the most unfavorable impressions 
of the race, or to believe that the brave and persistent 
people whose seven years' struggle for their indepen- 
dence won the admiration and sympathy of the United 
States, are not hopelessly degenerated, base and venal. 
The " self-complacent British sneer," — heard in all 
countries — is peculiarly sonorous in Greece. Phrases 
like these salute the ear at every turn : " O, that's so 
very Greek." " None but a Greek would do this or 
do that." "A Greek trick." "A Greek lie,'' etc., etc. 
People who get into the habit of talking in this way 
never leave it off, and they soon learn by simple repeti- 
tion to believe that the sum and substance of human 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. -^59 

depravity is fully expressed in the word " Greeks." It 
is amusing to note to what insignificant matters the pre- 
judiced foreigner will descend to illustrate the degraded 
character of the Modern Greeks. An English officer 
whom I met in the railway carriage between Athens and 
the Piraeus, called my attention to the wooden fence 
then in process of erection on each side the road. 
" How long, sir, do you think it will be," said my com- 
panion, " before these destructive brutes (the Greeks) 
carry it away piecemeal for firewood ?" Not being well 
up in the natural history of railway fences, I was unable 
to gratify his curiosity on the subject. This was four 
years ago, and the fence stands to-day in about as good 
condition as when it was erected. " Look at that mon- 
ument,'' continued my friend, pointing to a distant white 
marble obelisk in memory of the English and French 
soldiers who fell in the vicinity, " it is absolutely pep- 
pered with gun shot fired by these infernal Greek 
sportsmen." I dare say that many of the shot were 
delivered from Greek fowling-pieces, but as the plain of 
Athens is frequented for sporting purposes by foreign- 
ers as well as Greeks, it is fair to presume that the 
former as well as the latter yielded to the temptation to 
take a shot or two at the "shining mark." Now, in the 
middle of this same plain, rendered historical by the 
famous battle of Athens, stands another monument, 
erected to the memory of Karaiscakis, a hero of the rev- 
olution, who fell upon the spot, and whose memory is 
dear to every Greek. As the visitor approaches to read 



360 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

the inscription carved upon the tablet, his eye is at- 
tracted by another inscription, not in Greek, but in 
EngUsh ; not carved, but daubed in huge character > of 
black paint upon the stone slab around the base of the 
monument. The words run thus : - 

RACER'S 

FOOTBALL GROUND 
1867. 

To establish uniformity of effect, or perhaps not to be 
outdone by the "other fellows," the blue jackets of 
another of Her Britannic Majesty's ships-of-war have 
daubed upon the corresponding slab of the Greek hero's 
monument another inscription, to wit: 

SAUCY. 
CRICKET GROUND. 

There the letters have stood through all the rains and 
sunshine of these years, furnishing an instructive lesson 
to the destructive Greeks of the respect due to the illus- 
trious dead. The reader may be struck, as I was with the 
superfluity of language employed by the ship's artist. 
He should have studied brevity, which is sometimes the 
soul of vulgarity as well as of wit. Why, for instance, 
the word " saucy ?" Does not the inscription itself fully 
establish that fact ? And why the words " football 
ground ?" Does not every Greek know that by right of 
preemption his native land has long been recognized 
as the football ground of Europe ? 

The Greeks have not only open enemies to accuse 
of creating prejudice against them. There have been 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 361 

but too many instances when from the bottom of their 
hearts they might have exclaimed, " Save us from our 
friends.'' The enthusiastic " Philhellene " has often dam- 
aged the cause he espoused by the heightened color of 
his picture, without a shade or neutral tint to give it the 
semblance of nature. The victim of imagination, he 
flings a tinsel robe over the Greek, and struts him be- 
fore the footlights in the expectation of applause, which 
does not come. He indulges his bombast in journals 
which will print his effusions, but deceives no one but 
himself. The Greeks themselves may give currency to 
every Philhellenic rhapsody and exaggerated eulogy, but 
it is only to counterpoise the scale heavy with unjust as- 
persion. If I read the Greek character with any degree 
of perception, I understand that he does not desire flat- 
tery or fulsome praise so much as just estimation of 
what he is ; honest criticisms of his defects, and generous 
allowances on the part of the critics for those extrane- 
ous circumstances which have largely contributed to pro- 
duce those defects. 

Of the foreign writers who denounce Greece, all are 
not wilfully malignant. The majority write for the sake 
of writing, and, as a matter of policy or gain, take the 
popular side of the question. These are, perhaps, the 
most dangerous of all, for they write with a reckless pen, 
and refuse to be enlightened, because they would then 
be deprived of the piquancy upon which they depend 
to make their effusions palatable. I remember meeting 

a well-known Irish humorist on board a steamer return- 
16 



362 * THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

ing from Greece, who was positively offended because he 
was set right in a matter in which he was aUogether 
wrong. He had primed himself during a sojourn of 
three or four days in Athens with a volley of abuse 
against the Greeks, and all who attempted to defend 
them, which he purposed to discharge in full force in 
his first fiction or magazine article. The British Minis- 
ter at Athens was especially offensive to him, because 
the facts stated by the former were not compatible with 
the fancies of the novelist. Yet, ^^ Cornelius O'Dowd " * 
was at heart as indifferent to the Greeks, whom he wished 
to abuse, as he was to the Confederates of the Southern 
States, whom he exalted in the pages of Blackwood un- 
til the " lost cause " diverted his humor into other chan- 
nels. 

Many of the detractors of Greece write from con- 
viction and the difficulty of casting off their national 
or personal prejudices. Their sentiments, however un- 
just, are openly and honestly expressed. Such men — 
especially if they have no Turkish bonds in their pock- 
ets — when convinced that their ink has been too strong- 
ly imbued with gall, will dip their pens in a milder fluid, 
and when occasion offers, make the amende honorable. 
These are noble enemies compared with that lesser crew 
of " Bohemians," who, under the gilded jacket of Phil- 
hellenism, philanthropy, or what not, win the confidence 
of the Greek for the purpose of making political capl- 

* Charles Lever, 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. ^6^ 

tal or personal gain from the cause the/ pretend to es- 
pouse with such disinterestedness. 

The extremes c f encomium and censure passed 
upon the Greek nation have created a party spirit out- 
side the kingdom, which increases in acerbity ; while the 
Greek himself, tired cf the spectacle, grows indifferent 
to both friend and foe. He despairs of being admitted 
into the political council of nations with the respect 
which he feels to be his due ; and he equally despairs of 
seeing his gallant defenders win the day and establish 
his neglected rights. This indifference is not calculated 
to advance the cause which every right-minded man in 
Europe ought to wish to prevail — that is, the .cause of 
an independent people striving against great odds, even 
if those odds are their own infirmities. If the policy of 
harshness has been unavailing, does not the simplest 
principle of human conduct suggest a change in the re- 
medial agents ? If stimulants and counter-irritants in- 
crease the excitability of the patient, had they not better 
be abandoned ? " J'aimerais mieux," says Joubert, " la 
mollesse qui laisse aux hommes le temps de devenir 
meilleurs, que la severite qui les rend pires, et la precip- 
itation qui n'attend pas le repentir." It is with nations 
as with individuals : if the three political physicians (es- 
pecially one of them), who have taken Greece in charge, 
will let nature take care of itself, giving advice only 
when the patient desires it, and abstaining from the harsh 
remedies of the " old school," the Hellenic Kingdom 
will gain in strength. If I refer to England more point- 



364 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 

edly than to other nations in these connections, it is be- 
cause she has been more prominent than other nations 
in the affairs of Greece. Perhaps my prejudices in fa- 
vor of England and Enghshmen, my respect for her insti- 
tutions and her statesmen, for the cleverness of her think- 
ing, and for the honesty of her working classes, give 
color to the regret with which I perceive that aversion 
is taking the place of regard for her in the minds of the 
Greek people. The Greeks have, no doubt, laid them- 
selves open to reproach, but they nevertheless feel, and 
disinterested observers feel with them, that they do 
not receive from English statesmen and from English 
writers that just and considerate treatment which one 
nation has a right to receive from another nation, and 
which comes with especial grace and efficacy from the 
strong to the weak. AVhile I do not believe that it will 
ever be a wholesome policy for Greece to ally herself or 
give her sympathies wholly to any one foreign power, I do 
believe that to no European nation can she hope to look 
with more confidence for disinterested advice and friend- 
ly counsel than to England. That such counsel may in 
any way be effective for good, Greece must be encour- 
aged to accept it by demonstrations of genuine sympa- 
thy on the part of her adviser. 

Greece is fond of asserting that the United States is 
her model, and of lamenting that she has never had a 
Washington to guide her political progress. It is natu- 
ral that she should feel a sympathetic interest in a peo- 
ple who from the earliest period of her struggle for in 



CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 365 

depenc ence have manift sted a desire to see fi ee insti- 
tutions flourish on her soil. The established principle 
of our government of avoiding entangling alliances 
abroad, and of refraining from intermeddling with the po- 
litical affairs of foreign States, have preserved to the 
United States an independence of j udgment which would 
not be the case if any other policy were adopted. The 
geographical and political conditions of Europe are so 
widely different from our own, that this circumstance 
must ever be considered when passing judgment upon 
the action of larger states towards inferior political or- 
ganizations. But while Greece must naturally expect to 
suffer from the ambitious designs of her more powerful 
neighbors, she can look with confidence to the potential 
voice of public opinion, both in Europe and America, 
to protect her independence as a State, so long as she 
can convince the world that she is worthy of her inde- 
pendence. 



If the patience of the reader has gone with me through 
these papers — which it is necessary to remark, have 
been written hastily during the pauses of a long journey, 
and sent to the publisher without revision — he may have 
perceived that in writing them, T have resisted a tempta- 
tion. It is easier to row with the current than against it : 
still easier to sit on the shore with the indifferent spec- 
tators and not get into the boat at all. But I conceive that 
I should be doing wrong to remain silent in the midst of 



366 THE GREEKS OF TO-BAY. 

calumny, and refuse to give my testimoiiy — sc far as 1 
have any testimony to give, in a matter in which I have 
at least endeavored to arrive at correct conclusions. In 
doing so, I have had but a single purpose in view, which 
is to awaken a more general interest in the condition and 
destinies of Greece, and to induce influential writers to 
accord a more impartial judgment than has heretofore 
been accorded, to the people of that struggling king- 
dom. 

Paris, 1872. 



THE END. 



No. 3. Supplement to Catalogue. Sept., 1872^ 



G. P. PUTNAM & SONS' 

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Translated from the Original Autobiography of Rev. 
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A 



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T 



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true position. The following treatise is at least a patient effort to make a contribution to this, amid 
all failures, chief department of thought." — Extract from Preface, 

BASCOM. Science, Philosophy, and Religion. By Jolin Bascom, 
author of Psychology, etc. i2mo, cloth, $1.75. 

\ T) LACKWELL. Studies in General Science. By Antoinette Browii 
X3 Blackwell. i2mo (uniform with Child's " Benedicite"). Cloth 
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** The writer evinces admirable gifts both as a student and thinker. Sne brings a sincere anJ 
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CHADBOURNE. Natural Theology; or, Nature and the Bible 
from the same Author. Lectures delivered before the Lowell Insti- 
tute, Boston. By P. A. Chadbourne, A.M., M.D., President of University of 

Wisconsm. i2mo, cloth, |2.oo; Student's Edition, $1.50. 

** Prof Chadboume's book is among the few metaphysical ones now published, which, once 
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depth of thought and grace of diction, with a total absence of ambitious display." — Washington 
National Republic, 

" In diction, method, and spirit, the volume is attractive and distinctive to a rare degree." — 
Boston Traveller, 

CHADBOURNE. Lectures on Instinct. By P. A. Chadbourne, 
author of * * Natural Theology. ' * 1 2mo. {In press. ) 

HYACINTHE. Life, Speeches, and Discourses of Pere Hyacinthe. 
Edited by Rev. L. W. Bacon. One vol. i2mo, cloth, $1.25. 

" We are quite sure that these Discourses will increase Father Hyacinthe' s reputation ttmong 
us, as a man of rare intellectual power, genuine eloquence, ripe scholarship, and most generous 
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"The Discourses will be found fully up to the high expectation formed from the great priest^s 
protests against the trammels of Romish dogmatism." — Rochestar Democrat. 

HYACINTHE. The Family. A Series of Discourses by Father Hya- 
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The Church — Six Conferences; Speeches and Addresses. With an Historical 
Introduction. By Hon. John Bigelow. i2mo, $1.50. 

N. B. — Both books are published under Father Hyacinthe*s sanction, and he receives a copy- 
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POPULAR SCIENCE-^Pkysiology, Healik, Domestic Life. 13 

SMITH. A Manual of Political Economy. By E. Peshine Smith. 
i2mo, $1.50. 

*** A comprehensive text-book, specially suggested and approved by Henry C. Carey and 
other eminent political economists. 



W 



HAT IS FREE TRADE ? By Emile Walter. i2mo, fi.oo. 



" An unanswerable argument against the follies of protection, and a stinging satire on the 
advocates of that policy, which would enrich us by doubling our expenses. Wit and sarcasm ol 
the sharpest and brightest sort are used by the author with great effect."— iV. Y. Citizen. 

"The most telling statements of the leading principles of the free trade theory ever published, 
and is, perhaps, unsurpassed in the happiness of its illustrations." — The Naiion. 



IV.— POPULAR SCIENCE.— Physiology, Health, 
Domestic Life. 



PUTNAM'S HANDY-BOOK SERIES FOR THE FAMILY. 

BEARD. Eating and Drinking: Food and Diet in Health and 
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BEARD. Stimulants and Narcotics, Medically and Morally con- 
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GRISCOM, J. H. M.D. ON THE USE OF TOBACCO. 321110, 
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HINTON. Health and its Conditions. By James Hinton, author of 
** Life in Nature," ** Man and his Dwelling Place," &c. i2mo, $1.50. 

HOPE. Till the Doctor Comes, and How to Help Him. A 
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WHAT SHALL WE EAT.? A Manual for Housekeepers. 
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The design of this Manual is to suggest what is seasonable for the tabic, each day in the week ; 
and how it shall be cooked, v/ithout the trouble of thinking. It provides an agreeable variety, 
which may be clianged to suit the income of the reader. A collection of Pickles and Sauces ol 
rare merit forms a desirable addition at the end. 



t C* WEETSER. Human Life : Its Conditions and Duration. By 
J^ Wm. Sweetser, M.D. i2mo, $1.50. 

" The subject is curious and interesting ; the reason is logical and lucid. Some of the facts 
are very impressive," — Boston Transcript. 

"A sensible and well-written treatise," — N. Y. Alhion. 

WHAT MAKES ME GROW? or, Walks and Talks with 
Amy Dudley. With two illustrations by Frolich. i6mo, cloth 
extra, $1. 

*** A charming and useful little book for juveniles from six to twelve years. It is well adapted 
also for Sunday-school libraries. 



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